GREEN \>H 

 '■us lanceolata Hack. 



I 'hf Olive I'amih 

 Habit ami Habitat: A medium sized tr> -50 feet tall, with a 



trunk diameter of lii-lo inches, ami with stout ascending branches and 



naked branehlets forming B compact, broad and roundish t-rown. esp* 

 when grown in the open or as a street tree. Prefers the moist, well- 

 drained and rich loam of woodlands and river bottoms, but grows well 

 in drier sites also. 



Leaves and Buds: The leaves are opposite, pinnately compound. 

 ^-12 inches long; leaflets 7-i), most commonly 7. 2-4 inches long, %-l 

 inch broad, oblong-lanceolate, with gradually tapering tips, sharply 

 serrate or entire, bright-green and smooth on both sides, not hairy 



underneath; petioles stout, more or less grooved, not hairy. The buds 

 opposite, stout, flattish; scales rusty-brown, hairy. 



Flowers and Fruits: The flowers ami fruits are essentially the 



same as those of the red ash. Rather frequently fruits of the green ash 

 are found that are three sided rather than flat. 



Bark, Twigs and Wood: The bark on the twigs is light green and 

 smooth at flrst, but becomes ashy gray or yellowish-brown after three 

 or four years old. brownish or gray on the old branches and main trunk, 

 and divides into shallow, longitudinal furrows and ridges which often be- 

 come more or less scaly in old age. When chipped away with a knife 

 the interior of the bark appears bright straw-colored or yellowish- 

 brown. The wood is heavy, hard, strong, coarse-grained, easy to split, 

 light brown with thick greenish sapwood, quite durable in contact with 

 the soil, good for posts and poles, tool handles and singletrees. 



Distribution in the State: This is another tree that has entered 

 Nebraska from the forests of the east and has worked its way entirely 

 across the state. It is seen most commonly in the border-woodlands 

 along the rivers and small streams but it also gets far away from such 

 natural and more congenial habitats. Green ash was also used as a 

 common timber claim tree during the period of the most rapid settlement 

 in Nebraska. Green ash grows rapidly, is hardy in our climate. 

 and has very desirable habits so that it has been very commonly planted 

 as a street and lawn tree. It is easilv transplanted and is seldom in- 

 jured by our severest winter storms. The trunk is sometimes infested 

 with borers but those are about the only serious pests that attack the 

 tree. Map 45. 



Remarks: Some authorities hav< ncluded that this Bpecic 

 not distinct from the red ash and they are therefore inclined to in- 

 clude this as a mere variation under the Fraxinus />< nnsylvaniea wl 

 is not deserving of separa* -ognition or of a separate name. V 



braska botanists have attempted to distinguish between the two. howev< 

 The absence of pubescence from the twigs, leaflets and petiole*, the nar- 

 rower and more distinctly serrate leaflets would seem to afford char- 

 ge the tw 8. These differ' are 

 more pronounced than those used to separate some of the - - of other 

 ups. However, this controversy is worth further investigation in con- 

 n with the species of ash as they are found in this state. 



—155— 



