THE ROWAN, OR MOUNTAIN ASH 101 



springing upward, as has been said, in a lax manner 

 from the trunk, give to the tree an air of negligent 

 grace and lightness, •which is enhanced by the colour- 

 ing and form of bark, leaf, blossom, and fruit. The 

 buds are large, violet-black or grey, covered -with a 

 velvety pubescence of long white silky hairs. The 

 leaves are " pinnate," being, as a whole, some six or 

 eight inches in length, but made tip of from thirteen 

 to seventeen leaflets, i.e. one terminal one, and from 

 twelve to sixteen in pairs. Each leaflet is from one 

 inch to two inches in length, and about one-third 

 as broad, with a coarsely-toothed margin and an acute 

 point. They are at first downy on their under sur- 

 faces, and though they lose this character as they 

 mature, they remain, like most leaves, paler on that 

 side, and are fringed with hairs along their chief 

 veins. When the foliage is newly expanded in May, 

 and the gracefully cut, bright green leaflets turn in 

 the breeze, exhibiting their pallid lower surfaces, they 

 certainly form a distinct charm in themselves, apart 

 from the contrasting ashen bark and the creamy 

 clusters of blossom that appear at this period. 



The individual flowers are very small, only one- 

 third of an inch across, but they are crowded into a 

 nearly flat or "corymbose cyme," generally nearly six 

 inches across, so that by being massed together they 

 gain the conspicuousness which they do not separ- 

 ately possess. Though the tree has but few insect 

 foes, this massing together of its httle honeyed florets 

 procures for it many friendly insect visitants, nearly, 

 fifty species having been observed upon its blossoms. 

 These visits are apparently to a great extent jiecessary 



