XLVHI. OLEA‘CEH: FRa/XINUS. 639 
2a %2 1 F, paiyreéi'pes Ladill. The Phillyrca- 
like Fontanesia. 
Identification. Liabill. Syr., dec, 1, p. 9. t.1.; Don’s Mill., 4. p. 51. 
Engravings. Bot. Cab., t. 1308.; and our fig. 1245. 
Spec. Char.,§c. See Gen. Char. A sub-evergreen shrub 
or low tree. Syria between Laodicea and Mount Cas- 
sius, and Sicily. Height 10 ft. to 14 ft. Introduced 
in 1787. Flowers greenish white, turning to brownish 
yellow ; June, and remaining on the tree two or 
three months, 
Readily propagated by layers, by cuttings, or by 
grafting on the common privet. Grafted standard 
high on the ash, it would form a very handsome 
drooping-branched tree. 1245. F. phillyredides. 
Sect. III. Fraxinre‘e. 
Genus VI. 
balealeayialrd 
FRA’XINUS Tourn. Tue Asn. Lin. Syst. Polygamia Dic'cia. 
Identification. Tourn. Inst., 343. ; Lin. Gen., No. 1160. ; Don’s Mill., 4. p. 53. 
Synonymes. Fréne, Fr.; Esche, Ger.; Frassino, Ital. 
Derivation. The derivation of Fraxinus given in Don’s Miller is, from phrassd, to enclose ; the ash 
having been formerly used for making hedges. Linnzeus derives it from phyrazis, a separation, 
because the wood splits easily, Others derive it from jrangitur, because the young branches are 
easily broken ; or which may have been applied ironically, in allusion to the extreme toughness of 
the old wood. None of these derivations, however, appears very satisfactory. The English name 
of Ash may be derived either from the Saxon word ese, a pike; or from the colour of the bark of 
the trunk and branches, which resembles that of wood ashes. 
Gen. Char., §c. Flowers polygamous. Calyx none, or 4-parted, or 4-toothed. 
Corolla none. Stamens 2, in the male flowers. Anthers sessile, or on short 
filaments, dehiscing outwardly. Female flowers the same, except that they 
have no stamens, but have each a pistil that has a bifid stigma. Fruit, 
or samara, 2-celled, compressed, winged at top. Cells 1-seeded. (Don’s Mill.) 
Leaves compound, opposite, exstipulate, deciduous; unequally pinnate. 
Flowers in lateral racemes, greenish yellow. Fruit, or samara, 2-celled, 
compressed, winged at top.—Trees ; natives of Europe, part of Asia, and 
North America. 
The species are raised from seeds; and the varieties chiefly by grafting on 
Fraxinus excélsior, but partly also from seeds. There is a great tendency in 
all the species to sport into varieties; and many of what are by botanists 
described as species are, in our. opinion, not entitled to that distinction. 
All the ashes are of easy culture in good soil, and in a sheltered situation, 
The European ash is one of our most valuable timber trees, as is the Ame- 
rican ash in North America. 
A. Leaficts broad, smocth or shining on the upper surface, Natives of Europe. 
¥ 1. F. exce’tsior L. The taller, or common, Ash. 
Identification. Lin, Sp., p. 1509. ; Don’s Mill., 4. p. 53. 
Synunymes. F. apétala Lam. Ill. t. 858. f.1.i F. rostrata Guss. Fl. Rav. p.374.; F. O’rnus Scop. 
Carn, No. 1249.3 F. erdsa Pers.; F. crispa Bosc; le Frene, P’r.; Aesche or Esche, Ger. and 
Dutch; Ask, Dan. and Swed.; Frassino, Ital.; Fresno, Span.; Freixo, Port.; Jas, Jasen, or 
Jassen, Russ.; Hse, Saz. . ‘ a its 
Engravings. Eng. Bot., t. 1692.5 the plates in Arb. Brit., Ist. edit., vol. vi.; and our fig. 1246, 
Spec. Char., &c. Leaflets almost sessile, lanceolate-oblong, acuminate, ser- 
rated, cuneated at the base. Flowers naked. Samara obliquely emarginate 
at the apex. The leaves have generally 5 pairs of leaflets, but sometimes 6, 
