N. ORD.—CAPRIFOLIACEA. . JO 
Tribe,-SAMBUCEA., 
GENUS.—SAMBUCUS »* TOURN. 
SEX. SYST.—PENTANDRIA TRIGYNIA. 
SAMBUCUS CANADENSIS. 
ELDER. 
SYN.—SAMBUCUS CANADENSIS, LINN.; 8. NIGRA, MARSH (NOT LINN.); 
S. HUMILIS, RAF.; S. GLAUCA, GRAY (NOT NUTT.). 
COM. NAMES.—ELDER BUSH, ELDER BERRY; (FR.) SUREAU DU CANADA; 
(GR.) CANADISCHE HOLLUNDER. 
A TINCTURE OF THE BUDS, FLOWERS, SHOOTS, AND LEAVES OF SAMBUCUS 
CANADENSIS, LINN. 
Description.—This common, glabrous, suffrutescent perennial, usually attains 
a growth of from 6 to 10 feet. Stems somewhat ligneous, hollow, pithy, generally 
dying down to the ground, or persistent for a few years; dark verrucose; pith 
dense and bright white after the first year. eaves compound, imparipinnate ; 
stipules rare; leaflets 5 to 11, mostly 7, petiolulate, from ovate-oval to oblong- 
lanceolate, serrate, acuminate, the lower sometimes with a lateral lobe; s¢zpe/s not 
uncommonly present, narrowly linear, and tipped with a callous gland. Jnflor- 
escence terminal, broad, flat, or depressed, 5-rayed, compound cymes; flowers 
small, creamy-white, and sickishly odorous. Calyx minute, 5-lobed; dodes some- 
what deltoid, acute. Corolla rotate, or somewhat urceolate ; md broadly spread- 
ing; /obes 5, obtuse. Stamens 5, alternate with the lobes of the corolla, and 
attached to the base of its tube. Stzgmas 3; styles capitate. Fruit a baccate, 
sweet and juicy, dark-purple drupe, never red, but later becoming black ; d/oom 
slight. Vudélets 3, small, 1-seeded, punctate-rugulose ; seed suspended ; /esfa mem- 
branaceous. 
History and Habitat.—This species is indigenous to North America, where it 
extends from New Brunswick westward to Saskatchewan, southward to Florida 
and Texas, and to the mountains of Colorado, Utah, and Arizona. It grows in 
rich alluvial soils, blossoming in July and fruiting in September. . 
Our species is not sufficiently distinct from the European 5S. zzgva, Linn., from 
which it differs only in being less woody, and having more loose cymes, larger 
flowers and more compound leaves. The bracteate inflorescence, considered spe- 
cific. does not seem to be a constant feature. The American species was intro- 
’ 
duced into England in 1761. 
1 instrument, said to have been made of the wood. 
* Saupixn, sambuke, an ancient musica 
