440 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. 
the cultivated Mountain Ash of Europe, P. aucupdria, when 
planted about houses, remains on during the winter, is of a dark 
reddish or scarlet color. 
It has a strong resemblance to the imported mountain ash, 
but may be distinguished by its leaves and their petiole being 
more smooth, the bark darker, and its habit more slender. Its 
fruit, also, is of a darker color. When cultivated in England, it 
assumes a more robust appearance than the European moun- 
tain ash, so that its slender form, when growing wild, might be 
thought to be owing to its being drawn up by being surrounded 
by other trees. It has, however, the same delicate shape when 
exposed to the winds on the north side of the Wachusett. 
From the resemblance to the European tree, so great that 
Michaux supposed it might be a variety, it 1s probable that its 
cultivation should be the same. 
That tree is commonly raised, in England, where it is much 
cultivated as an ornamental tree, from the seed, which is gath- 
ered as soon as ripe, macerated in water till the seeds are sepa- 
rated from the pulp, and then may be immediately sown. They 
will, in that case, remain eighteen menths in the ground before 
coming up. It is common, therefore, to mix the berries with 
light, sandy soil, and spread them in a layer, of ten or twelve 
inches in thickness, in the rotting ground, covering the layer 
with two or three inches of sand or ashes, and allowing them to 
remain in that state a year. They are then separated from the 
soil by sifting, and sown in beds of light, nch soil, being cov- 
ered a quarter of aninch. ‘This should be done as late as pos- 
sible in the fall. They will come up in June, and by the end 
of the season some of the plants will be eighteen inches high, 
and ready to transplant to the nursery. The seeds should be 
not less than two inches apart.—Loudon, Arb., 920. 
The European Mountain Ash is commonly known in Eng- 
Jand by the name of Rowan or Roan Tree, and, in some dis- 
iricts, Witchen; and has long been considered of sovereign 
power against witches and evil spirits, and all their fascinations 
and spells. For this purpose, it was made into walking-sticks, 
or branches of it were hung about the house or about stables 
