- 1. Var. monophylla, O. Kuntze, Flora von Lewpzig, 82 (1867).
- Fraxinus monophylla, Desfontaines, Tad. de VE cole de Bot. 52 (1804).
- Fraxinus heterophylla, Vahl. Enum. Pl. i. 53 (1804); Loudon, Arb. et Frut. Brit. ii. 1228 (1838).
- Fraxinus simplicifolia, Willdenow, Sp. Pl. iv. 1098 (1805).
- Fraxinus excelsior, var. diversifolia, Aiton, Hort. Kew. iii. 445 (1789).
This remarkable variety, which is usually known as the laurel-leaved or simple- leaved ash, is met with in the wild state in the forests near Nancy in France, and also rarely in England and Ireland. It appears’ occasionally when a quantity of ash seeds is sown, and intermediate forms are found with three, five, and seven leaflets, The shoots and buds are identical with those of the common ash. In the ordinary form of the variety, the leaf (Plate 262, Fig. 2) is simple, not being divided into leaflets. Occasionally there is a large leaflet, with one or two small leaflets at its base; and this form is known as var. monophylla laciniata. The simple -leaved form or the terminal leaflet in the two- to three-leaflet form, has a stalk about half as long as the blade or a little longer, and is variable in shape, being usually oval in outline with an obtuse, acute, or acuminate apex; margin coarsely serrate; lower surface pubescent except towards the apex; petiole widely grooved on its upper side. A form of the single-leaved ash with variegated leaves, was discovered, according to Loudon, in 1830 at Eglantine, near Hillsborough, Co. Down, Ireland.
The simple-leaved ash is very distinct in appearance and thrives well in towns. It is usually propagated by grafting.
At Beauport, Sussex, there is a tree of this kind, 70 feet by 5 feet 9 inches; and self-sown seedlings reproducing the variety have been observed by us there. Other large specimens occur : at Syon, a tree? 84 feet by 7 feet 6 inches ; at Sidmouth, measured by Miss Woolward in 1904, two trees 9 feet 4 inches each in girth, the taller being 86 feet high; also three good trees in the grounds at Woburn growing beside the lake. Lord Kesteven reports one at Stubton Hall, Newark, which was 67 feet high by 8 feet 1 inch in girth in 1906. Elwes has seen others from 50 to 70 feet high at Scampston Hall, Yorkshire; at Sharpham, near Totnes; and at Dodington Park, Gloucestershire. A tree at Oxford, near the east end of the broad walk in Christchurch meadow, mentioned by Walker? in 1833, is, according to Mr. Druce, about 65 feet high and 4 feet 7 inches in girth. It is crowded by other trees and is not thriving.
On the Pitfour estate near Mintlaw in Aberdeenshire, a tree 55 feet high by 7 feet 9 inches is reported by Mr. Ainslie; and Elwes saw one at Gordon Castle, which in July 1907 was covered with fruit and measured about 60 feet by 9 feet 2 inches in girth.
There is a very good specimen in Stephen’s Green, Dublin; one at Beauparc House in Co. Meath measured, in rgos, 40 feet high by 6 feet 2 inches in girth; and another at Curraghmore, Co. Waterford, was 50 feet by 5 feet in 1907.
2. Var. rotundifolia. A tree growing in a wood at Strete Ralegh, near Exeter,
1 Cf. Mathieu, Flore Forestière, 241 (1897), and Allgem, Garten-Zeitung, iii. 6 (cited by Loudon).
2 This tree in 1849 was 50 feet high by 4 feet in girth; it is now beginning to decay at the top.
3 Flora of Oxfordshire, 3 (1833). Cf. also Dyer, in Journ. Bot. ix. 147 (1871).
