Part 64

Fraxinus quadrangulata Michx.

HABIT.--A large tree 50-80 feet high, with a trunk diameter of 1-3 feet; small, spreading branches and stout, 4-angled, more or less 4-winged branchlets form a narrow crown.

LEAVES.--Opposite, pinnately compound, 8-12 inches long. Leaflets 5-9, usually 7, 3-5 inches long, 1-2 inches broad; short-stalked; ovate-oblong to lanceolate, long-pointed; coarsely serrate; thick and firm; yellow-green above, paler beneath, glabrous. Petioles slender, glabrous.

FLOWERS.--April, before the leaves; perfect; borne in loose panicles on shoots of the previous season; calyx reduced to a ring; corolla 0; stamens 2; ovary 2-celled.

FRUIT.--September-October, falling soon after; samaras 1-2 inches long, in long, loose, paniculate clusters.

WINTER-BUDS.--Short, rather obtuse; bud-scales rounded on the back, 3 pairs, dark red-brown, somewhat pubescent.

BARK.--Twigs orange, rusty-pubescent, becoming brownish or grayish; on the trunk light gray tinged with red, irregularly divided into large, plate-like scales, often with the shaggy appearance of a Shagbark Hickory.

WOOD.--Heavy, hard, close-grained, brittle, light yellow-streaked with brown, with thick, light yellow sapwood.

DISTRIBUTION.--Occasionally in the southern half of the Lower Peninsula. Nowhere abundant.

HABITAT.--Prefers rich, limestone hills, but grows well in fertile bottom-lands.

NOTES.--Hardy and grows rapidly. A blue dye is made by macerating the inner bark in water.

1. Winter twig, × 1. 2. Leaf, × 1/3. 3. Staminate flowering branchlet, × 1/2. 4. Staminate flower, enlarged. 5. Pistillate flowering branchlet, × 1/2. 6. Pistillate flowers, enlarged. 7. Fruit, × 1.]

+OLEACEAE+

+Black Ash+

Fraxinus nigra Marsh. [Fraxinus sambucifolia Lam.]

HABIT.--A tall tree 60-80 feet high, with a trunk diameter of 1-2 feet; slender, upright branches form in the forest a narrow crown, in the open a rounded, ovoid crown.

LEAVES.--Opposite, pinnately compound, 12-16 inches long. Leaflets 7-11, 3-5 inches long, 1-2 inches broad; sessile, except the terminal; oblong to oblong-lanceolate, long-pointed; remotely, but sharply serrate; thin and firm; dark green above, paler beneath, glabrous. Petioles stout, grooved, glabrous.

FLOWERS.--May, before the leaves; polygamo-dioecious; borne in loose panicles on shoots of the preceeding season; calyx 0; corolla 0; stamens 2; ovary 2-celled.

FRUIT.--August-September, falling early, or sometimes hanging on the tree until the following spring; samaras 1-1-1/2 inches long, in open, paniculate clusters 8-10 inches long.

WINTER-BUDS.--Ovoid, pointed; bud-scales rounded on the back, 3 pairs, almost black.

BARK.--Twigs at first dark green, becoming ashy gray or orange, finally dark gray and warted; thin, soft ash-gray and scaly on the trunk. Bark flakes off on rubbing with the hand.

WOOD.--Heavy, tough, coarse-grained, weak, rather soft, dark brown, with thin, lighter colored sapwood.

DISTRIBUTION.--Common throughout most portions of Michigan.

HABITAT.--Prefers deep, cold swamps and low river-banks, but grows in any good soil.

NOTES.--Hardy throughout the state. Not easily transplanted. Foliage falls early in autumn.

+SUMMER KEY TO THE SPECIES OF CATALPA+

a. Leaves 5-8 inches long, thick; flowers 1-1/2 inches across, prominently yellow-spotted; seeds with pointed, fringed wings at each end; branches rather crooked and straggling; bark thin, separating into thin scales on the trunk. C. bignonioides, p. 227.

aa. Leaves 8-12 inches long, thin; flowers 2-1/2 inches across, not prominently spotted; seeds with rounded, wide-fringed wings at each end; branches not crooked and straggling; bark thick, separating into thick scales on the trunk. C. speciosa, p. 225.