chap. lxxv. olea n ce;e. fra'xinus. 1231 



$ 8. F. zentiscifcOlia Dcsf. The Lentiscus-leaved Ash. 



Identification. Desf. Cat. Hort. Par., p. 52. ; Willd. Sp., p. 1101. 



Synonymes. F. tamariscifblia Vahl Enum., 1. p. 52., Don's Mill., 4. p. 54. : F. parvifdlia lam 



Diet., 2. p. 540. ; F. alepp^nsis Pluk. Phyt., 182. f. 4. 

 Engravings. Pluk. Phyt., 182. f. 4. j our Jig. 1054. ; and the plate of this species in our last 



Volume. 



Spec. Char., eye. Leaflets petiolate, oblong and lanceolate, 

 sharply serrated, the serratures mucronate ; 4 — 5 pairs ac- to* 

 cording to Vahl ; 6 — 7 pairs according to Willd. ; i in. long, 

 terminal one smaller than the lateral ones. Branches dark ^ 

 purple. Buds brown. Flowers naked. Samara narrow, 

 gradually widening to the apex, and retuse there. (Don's Mill., 

 adapted.) A tree, a native of the country near Aleppo. In- 

 troduced in 1710, and flowering in May and June. The largest 

 specimen near London is at Purser's Cross, where it is up- 

 wards of 50ft. high; and there is one at Syon 19ft. high. 1054 ^ 

 There is also a tree at Croome, in Worcestershire, 45 years 

 planted, and 35 ft. high ; and one at West Dean, in Sussex, 

 10 years planted, and 21 ft. high. In France, a tree in the park at Clair- 

 vault, 44 years planted, is 29 ft. high. Plants, in the London nurseries, are 

 commonly propagated by grafting; but seeds which are received from the 

 north of France come true to their kind. 



Variety. 



¥ F. 1. 2 pendula has slender pendulous branches, and forms a very ele- 

 gant tree. It was introduced in 1833 from the Floetbeck Nurseries ; 

 and there are plants in the Horticultural Society's Garden, and 

 the arboretum of Messrs. Loddiges. This is a rapid-growing and 

 most beautiful tree, which, when better known, will become very 

 popular. 



C. Leaves and Leaflets large, glaucous and downy beneath. Natives exclusively 



of North America. 



From carefully observing all the alleged species of American ash in the Horti- 

 cultural Society's Garden, and in the arboretum of Messrs. Loddiges, we are 

 convinced they are all variations of one and the same species. The most distinct 

 of these, as far as respects the leaves, appears to be F. a. pubescens ; and as 

 far as respects the shoots, F. a. quadrangulata : but it is proper to remark, 

 that, as the plants referred to as having been examined are all of small size, 

 and some of them miserable specimens, there may be some of the varieties 

 much more distinct than we are aware of. At the same time we hold it as 

 a principle, that a difference, to be specific, must be recognisable in the exterior 

 appearance of the plant, in every stage of its age and growth, and at every 

 season of the year. Seeds of several sorts of American ash are annually 

 imported from America by Mr. Charlwood, and perhaps by other London 

 seedsmen, and sold at 4s. a quart ; but, as these seeds are generally purchased 

 by private gentlemen in distant parts of the country, and not by the London 

 nurserymen, who can produce saleable plants at a much cheaper rate by 

 budding or grafting, we have not had an opportunity of observing whether 

 or not the plants are true to the specific descriptions. If they did come 

 tolerably true, we should not, on that account, be the less inclined to consider 

 them varieties; since the seeds of varieties of fruit trees, of timber trees, and 

 of ornamental shrubs much in cultivation, and indeed of varieties of all plants 

 whatever, always come up more or less true; though individuals among seed- 

 lings of such varieties may be found widely varying from the general character 

 of the variety, and hence so many new varieties and subvarieties. Many 

 thousand seedlings of what Cobbett called the American ash (doubtless F. 

 americana Willd.) were purchased from him by his admirers in different parts 

 of England, and we have no doubt the possessors of such of the plants as 

 are now become trees of 10 or 12 years' growth, might select from among 

 them many varieties very distinct. How far the alleged species may differ 



4 M 



