The Black Currant (_Ribes nigrum_), of the order _Grossulariaceæ_, or sometimes included in the _Saxifragaceæ_, is sometimes found wild in moist woods, flowering in April or May. It is well known as a garden shrub, and may be easily recognised by the characteristic odour emitted from its stems and leaves when bruised. In some northern woods the Red Currant (_R. rubrum_) is also found wild. The Wayfaring Tree or Mealy Guelder Rose (_Viburnum Lantana_--order _Caprifoliaceæ_) is moderately common in the woods and hedges of dry districts, especially on calcareous soils. It grows from ten to twenty feet high, and flowers during May and June. Its young shoots are covered with star-like hairs, which give them a characteristic mealy or downy appearance. The leaves are simple, elliptical-cordate, serrate, without stipules, and are downy beneath. The flowers are small, white, perfect, and arranged in terminal cymes. In late summer the tree is rendered conspicuous by its _flattened_ berries, which become scarlet as they ripen and afterwards turn black. A photograph of a twig in fruit is given on p. 338. The Ash Tree (_Fraxinus excelsior_--order _Oleaceæ_) is easily recognised at a distance, either in summer or winter, by the graceful curves of the lower branches, which droop, and then bend upward at their extremities; also, on a closer inspection, by the light ashy colour of the smooth bark of the twigs, and the large, black, triangular, terminal buds. The leaves are pinnate, with from nine to seventeen oblong-lanceolate, sessile, serrate leaflets. The flowers appear before the leaves in April and May, in dense clusters. They have no perianth: some consist only of an ovary, some only of two dark purple stamens, while others are perfect flowers with both ovary and stamens. Some trees have male blossoms only, and therefore produce no fruit; others bear dense tufts of pendulous, winged fruits which are ripe in October (p. 336), but often remain on the tree till the following spring. The wing of the fruit is slightly twisted, and thus, when the fruit is detached, it falls with a slow, spinning motion that allows it to be carried some distance by the wind, reaching the ground with its seed-end downwards. The seed does not germinate until the second spring. A variety of the Ash occurs with simple leaves.