LIV. 



SAMBUCUS* NIGRA. 



The Elder. 



Synonyms. — Sambucus, Bait Sy?i., 461 ; Ger. Em., 1422, f. ; Math. VvJg., vol. 

 ii. 606, f. ; Camer. Epit., 975, f. ; Fuchs. Hist., 64, f. Sambucus acinis albis, 

 Baii Syn., 461. Sambucus laciniatis foliis, Bauh. riiy., 456. Sambucus, n. 670 ; 

 Rail Hist., vol. i. p. 298. Sambucus nigra, Linn. Sp. JPL, 395 ; 

 p. 1495; FL Brit.. 336. 



Willd 



Foreign Names. — Fr. : Sureau. Ital. : Sambuco. Span. : Sauco. Port. . 

 Sabuguerio. Germ. : Gemeine Hollander. But. : Vlierboom. Swed. : Flaeder 

 Dan. •• Hyld. Buss. : Bugina tschernaia. 



Neit. Order, Dumos^, Linn.; Caprifolia, Juss. ; Caprifo- 



liaceje, De Cand. — Pentandria, Trigynia. 



Gen. Chab. — Limb of the calyx small, five-cleft. Corolla rotate, pitcher- 

 shaped, five-cleft ; its lobes obtuse. Stamens five. Style none. Stigmas 

 three, sessile. Berry roundish, scarcely crowned, pulpy, one-celled, 

 three to five-seeded ; funiculi bearing the oblong seeds in the axis of the 

 fruit (De Cand.) 



Spec. Char. — Stem shrubby, somewhat arboreous. Leaves pinnatifid, 



smooth. Segments ovato-lanceolate, serrate. Corymhs five-partite (De 

 Cand.) 



History.— Dioscorides describes two species of Elder : Ax-r/j 

 lAzyakn {Sambucus nigra), and A. yjx[Lai%¥.m {S. humilis vel 

 Ebulus). Hippocrates employed Ay.m {Sambucus) in medicine, 

 and the a of Theophrastus is the Sambucus nigra of later 

 authors. This plant was well known to the Arabian physicians. 



Fig. 1. The young stem, with the leaves and cyme. 2. A flower slightly mag- 

 nified. The figure are taken from Woodville's Medical Botany. 3. Cluster of 

 berries. 



* From sambuca, a musical instrument of the ancients, usually made of thi 

 plant (Dr. Withe ring). 



