Old Time Gardens 
43 2 
nal rambles in her garden to good account. She 
averred she had set fire to a certain gas which formed 
and hung around the Fraxinella, and that the igni- 
tion did not injure the plant. This assertion was 
met with open scoffing and disbelief, which has never 
wholly ceased ; yet the popular name of Gas Plant 
indicates a widespread confidence in this quality of 
the Fraxinella and it is easily proved true. 
Another New England name for the Fraxinella, 
given me from the owner of the herb-garden at 
Elmhurst, is “ Spitfire Plant,” because the seed-pods 
sizzle so when a lighted match is applied to them. 
The Fraxinella is a sturdy, hardy flower. There 
are some aged plants in old New England gardens ; 
I know one which has outlived the man who planted 
it, his son, grandson, and great-grandson. The 
Fraxinella bears a tall stem with Larkspur-like 
flowers of white or a curious dark pink, and shin- 
ing Ash-like leaves, whence its name, the little 
Ash. It is one of the finest plants of the old-fash- 
ioned garden ; fine in bloom, fine in habit of growth, 
and it even has decorative seed vessels. It is as 
ready of scent as anything in the garden ; if you but 
brush against leaf, stem, flower, or seed, as you walk 
down the garden path, it gives forth a penetrating 
perfume, that you think at first is like Lemon, then 
like Anise, then like Lavender ; until you finally de- 
cide it is like nothing save Fraxinella. As with the 
blossoms of the Calycanthus shrub, you can never 
mistake the perfume, when once you know it, for 
anything else. It is a scent of distinction. Through 
this individuality it is, therefore, full of associations, 
and correspondingly beloved. 
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