OLIVE FAMILY 
side is a hall where dwell three maidens, Norns—Urd the 
past, Verdandi the present, Skuld the future—the Scandina- 
vian Fates who direct and sway the destinies of men. 
The second root reaches Jétunheim the abode of the 
Giants and by its side is Mimir’s spring within whose depths 
wit and knowledge lie hidden; the third strikes deep into 
Niflheim the region of darkness and cold. The spring here 
feeds the serpent Nithhdggr, Darkness, which perpetually 
gnaws at the root. 
The leaves of the tree drop honey, and upon the topmost 
branch sits an eagle who observes all that goes on in the 
world. A squirrel, Ratatéskr, runs up and down along the 
trunk and branches bearing messages between the eagle 
and the serpent and stirring up strife between them. Four 
stags run back and forth among the branches and bite the 
buds ; these are the four winds. 
Such is the fantastic story of the ash tree, for which there 
is neither explanation nor reasonable interpretation. 
FRINGE-TREE 
Chiondnthus virginica. 
Chionanthus is of Greek derivation and refers to the snow white 
flowers of the species. 
A slender tree twenty or thirty feet high ; at the north a shrub of 
several, thick, spreading stems. Commonly planted on lawns and 
parks. Ornamental. Roots fibrous. Ranges from Pennsylvania 
to Florida, westward through the Gulf states to Texas, Arkansas and 
Kansas. 
Bark.—Brown, tinged with red, scaly. Branchlets terete, light 
green, downy, at first; later they become light brown or orange 
color. 
WVood.—Light brown, sapwood paler brown; heavy, hard, close- 
grained. 
Winter Buds.—Licht brown, ovate, acute, one-eighth of an inch 
long. Outer scales fall when spring growth begins, inner scales en- 
large with the growing shoot and become leaf-like, an inch or more 
in length. 
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