HOP TREE; WAFER ASH (Ptelea trifoliata, Linn.). Shrub to 45 feet. Slender tree with round head of spreading branches ending in downy twigs. Bark with warty excrescences; twigs with prominent leaf scars. Wood hard, close-grained, heavy, yellow-brown. Leaves compound, of 3 sessile, ovate, taper ing, serrate leaflets, on a long petiole; dark green, at first downy, 4 to 6 inches long, turning yellow in autumn. Flow
ers in terminal clusters, small, mixed, inconspicuous. Fruit clustered, pale green until ripe, circular, winged samara, like elm seeds, but larger, often 1 inch across. Showy. Dist.: Rocky slopes, in forest shade, Long Island to Florida; west to Minnesota, Colorado, Texas, and New Mexico.