ASH TREE. 



FRAXINUS. 



OLEINiE. POLYGAMIA DIOECIA. 



The English name Ash, from the Saxon lEsc, is said to have 

 been given to this tree from the colour of its bark. — French, Frene ; 

 formerly Frai, Fraysse, — Italian, Frassino ; on the Brescia, Uza. 



The common Ash, Fraxinus excelsior^ takes its spe- 

 cific name from the loftiness of its trunk : the leaves are 

 pinnate, usually composed of five pair of leaflets ; the 

 blossoms grow at the sides of the branches, in loose spikes; 

 they commonly open in March or April, but in cold sea- 

 sons are sometimes as late as May. Toward the end of 

 April, or the beginning of May, the leaves come out, 

 and fall early in the autumn. 



The fruit of the Ash is like the tongues of some birds, 

 therefore they have been called Lingua avis and Lingua 

 passeritia by the old apothecaries, who used them in 

 medicine, and Ornithogiossum by others. Our country 

 people usually call them Ash keyes, but others name 

 them Kite keyes. The botanists, from their similarity 

 to the Samera of Columella, or the fruit of the elm, de- 

 signate them by the name of Samara, and sometimes by 

 that of Pterides, from their winged edges. 



A well grown Ash is an elegant object ; the bark is 

 smooth and pale coloured; the foliage of a line dark 

 green, light and graceful. When the branches are pen- 

 dulous, as is frequently the case, more especially with 

 trees growing by the water-side, it is termed the Weep- 

 ing Ash. 



