THE PRICKLY ASH AND THE HOP TREE - FAMILY RUTACEAE. The rue family is best known through the genus Citrus, which includes oranges and lemons. It is a large botanical group of trees and shrubs, all of which have bitter aromatic sap, and an oil distributed in glandular dots all over the leaves.
The Prickly Ash, or Toothache Tree (Fagara Clava Herculis, Small) has all the characteristics suggested by its names. Its compound leaves resemble those of the ash except that these alternate on the twig, while ash leaves are always opposite. The twigs are set with sharp prickles, each raised on a corky base. In Arkansas, where the tree forms thickets of considerable extent, it is also called "tear-blanket" and "wait-a-bit"! There is an acrid, resinous juice in the twigs, leaves and bark which is used as a stimulant in medicine. The bark of the roots is especially bitter. The Negro in the South chews a piece of prickly ash bark to cure the toothache. "Sting-tongue" and "pepperwood" he calls it, for it produces a burning sensation and a copious flow of saliva. Possibly it is as a counter-irritant only that it relieves the pain. Belief in its curative powers is widespread; the collecting of its bark has almost exterminated the species along the southeastern coast.
The prickly ash in its best estate looks like a well-grown apple tree, and often grows over 40 feet in height. It is found along streams in sandy soil from Virginia to Florida and west to Texas and Arkansas. As a rule it is under 25 feet in height. The small, greenish flowers are clustered on the ends of branches. The birds are fond of the aromatic seeds which hang out of the seed cases in the autumn.
The prickly ash of the North is Fagara Americanum, a shrub found on mountain slopes from Quebec west to Nebraska and Missouri, and south to Virginia. It will easily be recognised by its abundant prickles and bitter taste. Its leaves have fewer leaflets than the Southern species, and the flowers are borne in small, sessile clusters in the axils of last year's leaves.
Fagara 'lava, Kr. and Urb., is the "satinwood" so much sought for in the West Indies. It once grew on all the Florida Keys, but is now extinct on all but three of them. Its wood has a beautiful satiny lustre when polished, and when fresh sawed has the odour of the true satinwood of the East Indies.
Fagara Fagara, Small, is a shrubby tree of this genus which is found growing in southern Florida and along the Texas coast. It is known as the wild lime.
The Hop Tree, or Wafer Ash (Pielea trifoliata, Linn.) is a pretty, slender tree, widely distributed over this country. From Ontario its range • covers the Eastern States from New York to Florida, throughout the Gulf States and north in the forests of the Mississippi Valley into Michigan and Minnesota. A
related species, P. angustifolia, found in Mexico, Colorado and California, also occurs in South Carolina and Florida.
It is interesting to ask why this little tree has been so success ful in the American forests. We go to the tree for an answer. It chooses to grow in the shadow of taller trees. The seeds are plentiful and vigorous, so bitter no animal eats them, and they are winged for long flight. These are reasons enough for its success in life. Besides, the roots send up suckers.
Warned of its scattering habits, one hesitates to introduce it into a garden. But look at that one! A neighbour has planted it among the high shrubs that form the background of his fine perennial border. From a little distance the pale green fruit masses against the dark foliage remind one of a hop vine in its midsummer glory, but genuine hops are quite unlike the elm-like discs on this hop tree. There is a satiny sheen on the dainty leaves that make us desire a tree of it for the foliage alone. They look like ash leaves reduced to three leaflets, and given an extra polish by way of compensation. Clean and shiny and circular, the seeds are models of form and finish, and in their tropical abundance they remain to adorn the tree even after the leaves fall. There is no question but that a hop tree finds its best setting in a shrubbery border, especially where the surrounding greens need lightening. Iri such company it is a continual delight.
Ptelea was the ancient name of the elm—its seeds look like our elm keys, grown large and plump and smooth. These are sometimes used instead of hops in the brewing of beer, for there is a tonic, bitter principle contained in all parts of the tree, espec ially in the bark and fleshy roots.
The flowers of the hop tree are numerous in terminal clusters, but they are so small and green they are rarely noticed. They appear in May and June.
Baretta (Helietta parvi flora, Benth.)—This small tree or shrub grows nowhere but along the lower Rio Grande River in Texas. Its 3-parted leaves, bitter bark and winged seeds suggest its relationship to the other members of the rue family. Its winged seeds, four on a stem, suggest maple keys in miniature.
Torch Wood (Amyris Elemifera, Linn.)—Slender as is this little south Florida tree, it is prized for fuel, for its wood is hard and close grained, and full of an aromatic oily balsam. Its twigs are often burned to give a perfume in the room. The leaves are much like those of the box elder, opposite and of three leaflets.