THE TIMBERS OF COMMERCE 



externally in crumbling, irregular scales, full of readily visible 

 but small hard, white bodies. 



Uses, etc. "Like Ash and used for the same purposes, . . . 

 not plentiful " (24). 



Authority. Colhnson (24). 



Colour. Heart-wood dirty brown, streaky : well denned from 

 the sap-wood, which is about 3 inches wide and marked with 

 pinkish streaks and is quite pink in transverse section. 



Anatomical Characters. As those of O. Cunninghami (No. 

 138), with the following variations : — 



Pores. Prominent : 10-50 per sq. mm. 



Ring-boundaries. Very clear, fine white lines, and rather pro- 

 minent in the sap-wood. 



Type specimen authenticated by the Forest Officer to the 

 Government of New Zealand. The structure, though very simi- 

 lar to that of O. Cunninghami, is quite unlike that of 0. europea 

 or laurifolia. 



No. 140. ENGLISH ASH. Fraxinus excelsior. Linn. 

 Plate X. Fig. 88. 



Natural Order. Oleaces. 



Alternative Names. Common Ash. Europeesche Esche at 

 the Cape of Good Hope (51). Hungarian Ash. 



Distribution. Europe, North Africa : introduced into many 

 other places. 



Physical Characters, etc. Recorded dry-weight 32^-63 J lbs. 

 per cu. ft. Hardness Grade 5, compare English Elm. Smell 

 none when dry. " Like beet-root " (87). Burns well and 

 quietly : embers glow in still air : heat expels an orange or red 

 juice. Solution pale yellow. 



Grain. Sinuous : open but not extremely coarse. Surface 

 bright, " pearly, greasy to the touch " (69). 



Bark. Grey : ashen : greenish or yellowish-grey for many 

 years : deeply fissured when old : corky : of many fine concen- 

 tric layers crossed by ray- like lines. 



Uses, etc. Wagon-building, shafts, lances, hop-poles, tool- 

 handles, etc. Tough and elastic. " Warps little : not very 

 subject to the attacks of worms : more durable than Beech 

 or Hornbeam, yet often decays rapidly enough in alternate wet 

 and dry." (69). 



Easily confused with American Ash. 



Authorities. Nordlinger (87), p. 520. Ditto (86), vol. iii. 

 p. 93. Laslett (60), p. 147. Holtzapffel (48), p. 73. Stevenson 

 (113), p. 23. Westermeier (49), p. 2. Boppe (11), p. 72. 



160 



