=Remarks.=--The fruit is edible and the horticultural possibilities of
this tree have never received the attention they deserve. The opinion is
current that the fruit does not ripen and is not edible until it is
subjected to a frost. This is an error. The best and largest fruit I
have ever eaten ripened without a frost. A large native tree on the
Forest Reserve in Clark County ripens its fruit in August, which is of
an excellent quality and usually has only one, and rarely more than
three seeds. The fruit of this tree is of the oblong type. The fruit
varies much in size, time of ripening and quality. Some is scarcely
edible. Some of the native trees bear fruit when they are not over eight
feet tall, some are usually prolific bearers while others bear
sparingly. For this reason if one wishes to grow persimmon trees it is
best to buy grafted trees from some reliable nurseryman. The tree is
hardy throughout Indiana and while it is a very slow growing tree, it
can nevertheless be recommended for ornamental and roadside tree
planting. It is to be noted that cattle will not browse persimmon, and
that hogs greedily eat the ripe fruit. The fruit of many trees does not
fall until early winter, and such trees are a granary for several kind
of animals of the forest.
The wood is hard, heavy, strong and close-grained. Practically the whole
output of persimmon lumber is used in making shuttles. In Indiana the
tree is too rare to furnish much lumber.
=OLEÀCEAE.= The Olive Family.
Leaves compound; fruit dry, a samara. 1 Fraxinus.
Leaves simple; fruit fleshy, a drupe. 2 Adelia.
=1. FRÁXINUS.= The Ashes.
Trees with opposite, odd-pinnate leaves; flowers appear in April or May
in clusters from the axils of last year's leaves, the staminate and
pistillate on different or sometimes on the same tree; fruit a 1-seeded
samara.
Bark of mature trees furrowed; fruit not winged to the base.
Body of fruit robust, round and rather abruptly passing
into the wing; the body rarely winged 1/3 its length.
Shoots and axis of leaves smooth. 1 F. americana.
Shoots and axis of leaves velvety pubescent, at least
when young. 2 F. biltmoreana.
Body of fruit flattened and gradually passing into the
wing; the body usually winged more than 1/3 its length.
Shoots glabrous, or practically so. 3 F. lanceolata.
Shoots velvety pubescent, at least when young.
Calyx of fruit less than 3 mm. long; body of
samara just below the wing less than 3 mm.
wide, rarely 4 mm. wide, usually 1.5-2.5
mm. wide; samaras 3-4.5 cm. long. 4 F. pennsylvanica.
Calyx of fruit more than 3 mm. long, generally
4-5 mm. long; body of samara just below the
wing more than 3 mm. wide, usually 4-5 mm.
wide; samaras generally 4-6 cm. long. 5 F. profunda.
Bark of mature trees scaly or flaky; fruit winged to the base.
Twigs usually 4 angled; leaflets on very short
stalks. 6 F. quadrangulata.
Twigs round; leaflets sessile. 7 F. nigra.
=1. Fraxinus americàna= Linnæus. White Ash. Gray Ash. Plate 124. Large
trees with deeply furrowed bark; twigs smooth, greenish gray and often
covered with a bloom; leaves generally 2-3.5 dm. long, rachis smooth;
leaflets 5-9, usually 7, generally 5-14 cm. long, on stalks generally
0.3-1 cm. long, the terminal one on a stalk 2-4 times as long, leaflets
ovate to narrow-oblong, narrowed, rounded or oblique at base, short or
long acuminate at apex, sometimes merely acute, margins entire or
irregularly serrate, usually not serrated to the base, teeth short, dark
green and smooth above, glaucous beneath, sometimes almost green beneath
about Lake Michigan and in the northern tier of counties, usually
pubescent beneath along the midrib and along the veins, sometimes
glabrous; calyx persistent on the fruit, about 1 mm. long; fruit ripens
in September and October, linear, 3-4.5 cm. long, variable in size and
shape, body of samara cylindrical, somewhat narrower than the wing and
usually 1/3-1/4 the length of the samara, each face of the body usually
striated longitudinally with about 8 faint lines; wing terminal,
generally about 0.5 cm. wide, pointed or notched at apex.
=Distribution.=--Nova Scotia to Minnesota and south to the Gulf.
Frequent to common in all parts of Indiana. It is the most abundant in
the northern two-thirds of the State, where it is associated principally
with beech, sugar maple, linn, slippery elm and red oak. In the hilly
part of the State it is found principally near water courses and in
ravines, and rarely on the white and black oak ridges. It is rarely
found in the low "flats" of the southeast part of the State, or in the
shingle oak bottoms along the Patoka River.
=Remarks.=--The foliage of the white ash is quite variable in the
texture of the leaflets. Leaflets on some trees are quite thin while
those of other trees are thick and leathery, and no doubt would be
classed by Sargent as variety =subcoriacea=[68].
[Illustration: Plate 124.