226 American Midland Naturalist Monograph No. 4 



Field Guide to the Species 



Flowers borne in large, flat-topped clusters; berries dark purple-blue. 

 Leaflets 5 to 9, thickish, abruptly short-pointed. 



Herbage smooth or very sparsely hairy 1. 5. coerulea. 



Herbage finely hairy la. Var. velutina. 



Leaflets 5 to 7, thinnish, gradually long-pointed lb. Var. neomexicana. 



Flowers borne in round-topped or oblong clusters ; berries red or black. 



Berries red; leaves light green, smooth except hairy sometimes along midrib. 



Flower-clusters ovoid, the branches spreading or reflexed; pith brown 



2. 5. racemosa. 



Flower-clusters about as broad as long, the branches ascending; pith at first 

 white or light brown. 



Leaves often hairy on the midrib; occurs in parks of Northwest 



2. Var. callicarpa. 



Leaves smooth; occurs in Sierra Nevada, Rocky Mountains, and 



Southwest 2b. Var. microbotr^s. 



Berries black; leaves dark green, hairy below when young 3. 5. melanocarpa. 



I. Blueberry Elder {Sambucus coerulea Raf.). — ■Many-stemmed 

 shrubs 6 to 10 feet high, or small trees up to 25 feet high; leaflets mostly 5 

 to 7 (or 9) , oblong to narrowly lance-shaped, 1 to 6 inches long, dark green 

 above, paler below, smooth, pointed at the tips, the margins coarsely toothed, 

 unequal-sided at the base; flowers small, white, saucer-shaped, borne in flat- 

 topped clusters sometimes 10 inches across; berries bluish-black with a whitish 

 bloom. The berries are often gathered for making pies or jelly. (Syns. S. 

 glauca Nutt., S. coerulea var. arizonica Sarg.). 



Occurrence. — Olympic mount rainier, common, 2,500 to 3,500 feel: Longmire; 

 Nisqually Valley; White River near old camp. CRATER LAKE: near park headquarters; 

 Crescent Ridge; southwest corner of park. YOSEMITE: near Awahnee Hotel. KINGS 

 CANYON: near Sphinx Creek. SEQUOIA: near Ash Mountain. BRYCE CANYON: Rim 

 Road north of Rainbow Mountain. ZION : near Eart Rim ranger cabn. GRAND CAN- 

 YON, 6,500 to 8,500 feet. North Rim, occasional : along road to Cape Royale. South 

 Rim and just below: along railroad west of Grand Canyon Village; Bright Angel trail 

 cibout !/2 mile below rim; Kaibab trail about 2 miles below rim. 



la. Whiteleaf Blueberry Elder (Var. velutina (Dur. 6C Hilg.) 



Schwer. ) . — Similar to the species but the young branchlets densely hairy 



and the leaflets finely hairy at least below. (Syn. S. velutina Dur. & Hilg., 



S. californica Koch.) 



Occurrence. — LASSEN. YOSEMITE, 4,000 to 6,000 feet: Tenaya Lake trail; Nevada 

 Falls; below Vernal Falls; Ledge trail. SEQUOIA, 6,000 to 7,000 feet: Kern River. 



lb. New Mexican Elder (Var. neomexicana (Woot.) Rehd.). — Tall 

 shrubs up to 8 (or 21) feet high; branchlets smooth or finely hairy; leaflets 3 

 to 5, narrowly lance-shaped, grayish-green, slightly hairy below, gradually 

 long-pointed, thinnish. (Syn. S. neomexicana Woot.) 



Occurrence. — mesa verde: east end of Knife Edge road. GRAND CANYON. 

 American Elder (Sambucus canadensis L.) with shiny purple-black ber- 



