Fraxinus. 



OLEACE.E. 



127 



A tree 20 - 25 feet high, with slender branches ; the twigs of a grayish color, and quite 

 smooth. Leaflets usually in three pairs, 3-5 inches long and three-fourths of an inch to an 

 inch and a half wide, green on both sides but darker and shining above, abruptly contracted 

 at the base into a stalk which is 4 - 6 lines long and nearly smooth (except along the upper 

 side), often obscurely serrate, attenuate above into a long sharp point. Flowers nearly as 

 in F. Americana. Samara about if inch long ; the wing a little dilated in the middle, 

 truncate and emarginate at the summit ; the base narrow and rather long, but margined nearly 

 the whole way with the decurrent wing. 



Margin of rivulets, and in situations that are often overflowed. Fl. May. Fr. July. This 

 species I have not found actually within the limits of the State, but it is frequent in the 

 adjoining parts of New-Jersey. I cannot refer it with certainty to any of the species in 

 Michaux's Sylva. It differs from the F. tomentosa of that work, in its smooth branches and 

 petioles, and in the narrower wing of the samara, as well as in other characters of less im- 

 portance. It is noticed and figured here, that it may be further examined. Michaux thinks 

 there are several undescribed species of Ash east of the Mississippi. 



2. LIGUSTRUM. Tourn. ; Endl. gen. 3352 ; DC. prodr. 8. p. 293. PRIVET. 

 [ From the Latin, Kgare, to tie ; its pliable branches being sometimes used as cords.] 



Calyx minutely 4-toothed, deciduous. Corolla funnelform, 4-lobed. Stamens 2, included. 

 Ovary 2-celled, with two ovules in each cell : style short : stigma 2-cleft, obtuse. Berry 

 globose, 2-celled ; the cells 2- (or by abortion 1-) seeded. — Shrubs with opposite entire 

 leaves, and the flowers in a panicle or thyrsus. 



1. Ligustrum vulgare, Linn. Common Privet, or Prim. 



Branchlets slightly pubescent ; leaves elliptical-lanceolate ; panicles crowded. — Linn. sp. 

 1. p. 71 ; Engl. hot. t. 764 ; Michx. fl. 1. p. 3 ; Parsh, fl. 1. p. 7 ; Bigel. fl. Bost. p. 4 ; 

 Torr. fl. 1. p. 7 ; Beck, hot. p. 231 ; Darlingt. fl. Cest. p. 2 ; DC. prodr. 8. p. 293. 



A shrub 4-8 feet high, with numerous opposite branches. Leaves 1-2 inches long, 

 varying from acute to obtuse and from elliptical to obovate, smooth on both sides. Flowers 

 in terminal thyrsoid panicles. Calyx obscurely toothed or almost truncate. Corolla white ; 

 the lobes ovate, obtuse. Berries black, ovoid-globose. 



Borders of woods, and along fences. Introduced from Europe, and now thoroughly na- 

 turalized in many places, particularly near New-York and on Long Island. Fl. End of May. 

 Fr. July. This shrub is often cultivated for hedges. The leaves were formerly thought to 

 be useful for ulcers in the mouth and throat. 



