Part 37

MOUNTAIN ASH.

=Habitat and Range.=--River banks, cool woods, swamps, and mountains.

Newfoundland to Manitoba.

Maine,--common; New Hampshire,--common along the watersheds of the Connecticut and Merrimac rivers and on the slopes of the White mountains; Vermont,--abundant far up the slopes of the Green mountains; Massachusetts,--Graylock, Wachusett, Watatic, and other mountainous regions; rare eastward; Rhode Island and Connecticut,--occasional in the northern sections.

South, in cold swamps and along the mountains to North Carolina; west to Michigan and Minnesota.

=Habit.=--A small tree, 15-20 feet high, often attaining in the woods of northern Maine and on the slopes of the White mountains a height of 25-30 feet, with a trunk diameter of 12-15 inches; reduced at its extreme altitudes to a low shrub; head, in open ground, pyramidal or roundish; branches spreading and slender.

=Bark.=--Closely resembling bark of P. sambucifolia.

=Winter Buds and Leaves.,=--Buds more or less scythe-shaped, acute, smooth, glutinous. Leaves pinnately compound, alternate; stem grooved, enlarged at base, reddish-brown above; stipules deciduous; leaflets 11-19, 2-4 inches long, bright green above, paler beneath, smooth, narrow-oblong or lanceolate, the terminal often elliptical, finely and sharply serrate above the base; apex acuminate; base roundish to acute and unequally sided; sessile or nearly so, except in the odd leaflet.

=Inflorescence.=--In terminal, densely compound, large and flattish cymes; calyx 5-lobed; petals 5, white, roundish, short-clawed; stamens numerous; ovary inferior; styles 3.

=Fruit.=--Round, bright red, about the size of a pea, lasting into winter.

=Horticultural Value.=--Hardy throughout New England; prefers a good, well-drained soil; rate of growth slow and nearly uniform. It is readily transplanted and would be useful on the borders of woods, in plantations of low trees, and in seaside exposures. Rare in nurseries and seldom for sale by collectors. The readily obtainable and more showy European P. aucuparia is to be preferred for ornamental purposes.

1. Winter buds. 2. Flowering branch. 3. Flower with part of perianth and stamens removed. 4. Petal. 5. Fruiting branch.

=Pyrus sambucifolia, Cham. & Schlecht.=

Sorbus sambucifolia, Rm.

MOUNTAIN ASH.

=Habitat and Range.=--Mountain slopes, cool woods, along the shores of rivers and ponds, often associated with P. Americana, but climbing higher up the mountains.

From Labrador and Nova Scotia west to the Rocky mountains, then northward along the mountain ranges to Alaska.

Maine,--abundant in Aroostook county, Piscataquis county, Somerset county at least north to the Moose river, along the boundary mountains, about the Rangeley lakes and locally on Mount Desert Island; New Hampshire,--in the White mountain region; Vermont,--Mt. Mansfield, Willoughby mountain (Pringle); undoubtedly in other sections of these states; to be looked for along the edges of deep, cool swamps and at considerable elevations.

South of New England, probably only as an escape from cultivation; west through the northern tier of states to the Rocky mountains, thence northward along the mountain ranges to Alaska and south to New Mexico and California.

=Habit.=--A shrub 3-10 feet high, or small tree rising to a height of 15-25 feet, reaching its maximum in northern New England, where it occasionally attains a height of 30-35 feet, with a trunk diameter of 15 inches. It forms an open, wide-spreading, pyramidal or roundish head, resembling the preceding species in the color of bark, in foliage and fruit. Whether these are two distinct species is at the present problematical, as there are many intermediate forms, and the same tree sometimes furnishes specimens that would indubitably be referred to different species.

=Bark.=--On old trees light brown and roughish on the trunk, separating into small scales curling up on one side; large limbs light-colored, smoothish, often conspicuously marked with coarse horizontal blotches and leaf-scars; season's shoots light brown, smooth, silvery dotted.

=Winter Buds and Leaves.=--Terminal bud 1 inch long, lateral 1/2 inch, appressed, brownish, scythe-shaped, acute, more or less glutinous. Leaves pinnately compound, alternate, stems grooved and reddish above, enlarged at base; stipules deciduous; leaflets 7-15, the odd one stalked, 1-3 inches long, 1/2-1 inch wide, bright green above, paler beneath, smooth, mostly ovate-oblong, serrate above the base; apex rounded or more usually tapering suddenly to a short point, or rarely acuminate; base inequilateral.

=Inflorescence.=--In broad, compound cymes at the ends of the branches; flowers white and rather larger than those of P. Americanus; calyx 5-lobed; petals 5, ovate, short-clawed; stamens numerous; pistil 3-styled.

=Fruit.=--In broad cymes; berries bright red, roundish, rather larger than those of P. Americana, holding on till winter.

=Horticultural Value.=--Hardy in New England, though of shrub-like proportions in the southern sections; grows in exposed situations inland, and along the seashore. The dwarf habit, graceful foliage, and showy fruit give it an especial value in artificial plantations; but it is seldom for sale in nurseries and only occasionally by collectors. It is readily transplanted and is propagated by seed.

=Note.=--In the European mountain ash, P. aucuparia, the leaves have a blunter apex than is usually found in either of the American species, and have a more decided tendency to double serration.

1. Winter buds. 2. Flowering branch. 3. Flower with part of perianth and stamens removed. 4. Fruiting branch.

=Pyrus communis, L.=