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MISC. PUBLICATION 77, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 



leaves from 1}{ to 5 inches in length and about half as wide. The purple flowers 

 are produced in June in loose, slender-stemmed clusters of from 5 to 15 flowers 

 each. The pale-purple fruit consists of four deeply cleft, flattened lobes. In 

 autumn the capsules open and disclose the .seed surrounded by a red, false seed 

 coat, giving the bush a bright and showy appearance. 



The name wahoo is applied indiscriminately to Euonymus atropurpureus and 

 E. americanus L., the latter a low and trailing bush having roughened, crimson 

 capsules, to which the name burningbush more properly belongs. 



Part used. — The bark of the root and the stem. In reasonably constant 

 demand. 



Figure 113.— Wahoo {Euonymus atropurpureus) 



Figure 114.— White ash (Fraxinus americana) 



WHITE ASH 



r 



Fraxinus americana L. (Fig. 114.) 



Synonyms. — Fraxinus alba Marsh.; F. acuminata Lam. 



Other common names. — Ash, American white ash, cane ash. 



Habitat and range. — The white ash is native in rich woods, from Nova Scotia 

 to Minnesota, south to Florida and Texas, but chiefly in the Northern States 

 and Canada. 



Description. — This tree usually attains a height of from 60 to 80 feet, but 

 occasionally reaches 120 feet. The leaves, which appear late in the spring, are 

 about 12 inches long and consist of from five to nine leaflets from 3 to 5 inches 

 long and about half as wide. The small, whitish-green flowers which appear 

 from April to June are arranged in loose clusters, and the fruits which follow are 

 in the form of clustered, winged seeds each of which is from 1 to 3 inches long, 

 narrow, flat, and 1-seeded. 



Another species. — The black ash (Fraxinus nigra Marsh., syn. F. sambucifolia 

 Lam.) is also a native, inhabiting swamps and wet woods from Canada to Virginia 

 and Arkansas. Other names applied to it are hoop ash, swamp ash, water ash, 

 and basket ash. It reaches a maximum height of 100 feet and has leaves about 

 16 inches long composed of 7 to 11 leaflets 3 to 6 inches long. 



Part used. — The bark of the trunk and root of both species. In limited demand 

 only. 



WHITE MUSTARD 



Brassica alba (L.) Boiss. (Fig. 115.) 



Synonym. — Sinapis alba L. 



Other common names. — Yellow mustard, charlock, kedlock, senvre. 



Habitat and range. — White mustard is a weed found in cultivated fields and 

 waste places, but it is not so abundant nor so widely distributed as the black 

 mustard. It is cultivated on a commercial scale in California. 



