96 Trees of North Carolina 



160. Chionanthus virginica L. Fringe-tree, Flower- 



ing Ash, or Old Man's Beard. 



A small tree or shrub scattered through our woods, 

 especially in moist soil along the streams, most abun- 

 dant in the Piedmont section, but extending into the 

 lower mountains, and sparingly along streams in 

 parts of the coastal plain. It is very showy in the 

 spring with drooping clusters of white, fragrant 

 flowers, the linear petals about 1 inch long. Leaves 

 oval to obovate, pointed or rounded at the end, thin 

 and pubescent beneath and along the margins when 

 young, but at maturity thick, dark green above, light- 

 er and nearly smooth below, 3-8 inches long; fruit 

 resembling a small olive, to which family the tree be- 

 longs, %"% i nc h long, dark blue or nearly black, 

 often with a glaucous bloom, flesh thin and stone 

 large. Often cultivated for ornament. Thomas 

 Meehan* notes that in reality there are male and 

 female plants of this tree, although the distinc- 

 tion has not gone so far as to suppress either the 

 stamens or pistils. Dates of flowering: April 15, 

 1903; April 19, 1908; April 22, 1909; April 11, 

 1910; April 21, 1916. 



161. Osmanthus americanus (L.) B. & H. Devil- 



wood, Wild Olive. 



A small evergreen tree or shrub found behind the 

 sand dunes and on the hammocks near the coast. 

 The appearance of the tree is something like the 



* Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phil., June 21, 1887. 



