268 



CAPRIFOLIACEAE. 



VOL. III. 



Shrubs or vines. 



Fruit a few-seeded berry. 



Corolla short, campanulate, regular, or nearly so. 



Corolla more or less irregular, tubular or campanulate. 

 Fruit a 2-celled capsule ; corolla funnelform. 



i. 



5. Symphoricarpos. 



6. Lonicera. 



7. Diervilla. 



SAMBUCUS [Tourn.] L. Sp. PI. 269. 1753. 



Shrubs or trees (or some exotic species perennial herbs), with opposite pinnate leaves, 

 serrate or laciniate leaflets, and small white or pinkish flowers in compound depressed or 

 thyrsoid cymes. Calyx-tube ovoid or turbinate, 3-5-toothed or 3-5-lobed. Corolla rotate or 

 slightly campanulate, regular, 3-5-lobed. Stamens 5, inserted at the base of the corolla; 

 filaments slender; anthers oblong. Ovary 3-5-celled ; style short, 3-parted; ovules I in each 

 cavity, pendulous. Drupe berry-like, containing 3-5, i-seeded nutlets. Endosperm fleshy; 

 embryo nearly as long as the seed. [Latin name of the elder.] 



About 25 species, of wide geographic distribution. In addition to the following, about 10 others 

 occur in western North America. Type species : Sambucus nigra L. 



Cyme convex; fruit purplish black. i. S. canadensis. 



Cyme thyrsoid-paniculate, longer than broad ; fruit red. 2. 5". racemosa. 



i. Sambucus canadensis L. Amer- 



ican Elder. Sweet or Common 



Elder. Fig. 3955. 



Sambucus canadensis L. Sp. PI. 269. 1753. 



A shrub, 4-io high, glabrous or very 

 nearly so, the stems but little woody, the 

 younger ones with large white pith. Leaflets 

 5-11, usually 7, ovate or oval, acuminate or 

 acute at the apex, short-stalked, glabrous 

 above, sometimes pubescent beneath, 2'-$' 

 long, sharply serrate, sometimes stipellate; 

 cymes convex, broader than high ; flowers 

 white, about \\" broad; drupe deep purple 

 or black, nearly 3" in diameter; nutlets 

 roughened. 



In moist soil, Nova Scotia to Florida, west 

 to Manitoba, Kansas and Texas. Also in the 

 West Indies. Ascends to 4000 ft. in North 

 Carolina. Called also elder-blow, elder-berry. 

 The flowers and fruit have strong medicinal 

 properties. Leaves heavy-scented when crushed, 

 those of young shoots often stipulate. June- 

 July. 



2. Sambucus racemosa L. Red- 

 berried Elder. Fig. 3956. 



S. racemosa L. Sp. PI. 270. 1753. 



.S". pubens Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. i: 181. 



1803. 



A shrub, 2-i2 high, the twigs and leaves 

 commonly pubescent; stems woody, the 

 younger with reddish-brown pith. Leaflets 

 5-7, ovate-lanceolate or oval, acuminate at 

 the apex, often narrowed and usually in- 

 equilateral at the base, 2'-$' long, not stipel- 

 late, sharply serrate ; cymes thyrsoid, longer 

 than broad ; flowers whitish, turning brown 

 in drying ; drupe scarlet or red, 2" -3" in 

 diameter; nutlets very minutely roughened. 



In rocky places, Newfoundland to Alaska, 

 British Columbia, Georgia, Michigan, Colo- 

 rado and California. Fruit rarely white. April- 

 May. Called also mountain elder. Poison- 

 elder (Me.). Boor- or bore-tree. Boutry. 

 Ascends to 5000 ft. in Virginia. Sambucus 

 pit bens dissect a Britton, Mem. Torr. Club 5: 

 304. 1894, is a race with leaflets laciniate. 

 Lake Superior and Pennsylvania. 



Sambucus laciniata Mill., a cut-leaved race 

 of the related European 5. nigra L., has been 

 found at Cape May, N. J., perhaps escaped 

 from cultivation. 



