312 



PENTANDRIA. TRIGYNIA. Staphylea. 



Berries green, at length blackish purple, with a juice of the 



same colour. Seeds 3. Relh. Blossoms white. Berries black. 

 Anthers yellow, arrow-shaped, one on each filament. 



Wood 

 Var. 2. Berries white or green. 



S. April, May^ 



Staffordshire, Warwickshire, and Shropshire. The berries 

 of this also are used for making wine by some housewives in the 

 country. 



Var. 3. laeiniata. Leafits jagged. 



Kniph. S-Ger. 1234. 2-Dod. 845. 2-Lob. obs. 5$9. 2-Ger. 

 em. 1422. 3-J. B. i. a. 549. \~Park. 298. 3. 



Retzius in his 3d fasc. obs. believed this to be a distinct spe- 

 cies, but in his 6th fasc. he abandons this opinion, having found 

 that the seeds uniformly produce only the S. nigra. 



Parseley -leaved Elder. In hedges, near Manchester, Bristol, 

 Dartford, and Walsoken. near Wisbech. S. 



STAPHYLE'A. Cal with 5 divisions : petals 5 : 



caps, inflated, united : seeds 2, globular, 

 marked with a scar, somewhat like a nut. 



pinna'ta. S. Leaves simply winged. 



Kniph. Z-Giseh tf-Matth. 27^-Loaic. 30. 2-Lob. obi. 5±0. 

 2-Park. 141 8- J. B. i. a. 274-Ger. I2i9-Trag. lO^S- 

 Dod. Sl£-Ger. em. 1437. 



* The whole plant has a narcotic smell : it is not well to sleep under 



its shade— The ivood is hard, tough, and yellow. It is commonly made 



into skewers for butchers ; tops for angling rods ; and needles for weaving 



nets. It is not a bad wood to turn in the lathe.— The inner green bark 



f is purgative, and may be used with advantage where acrid purgatives are 



requisite. In smaller doses it is diuretic, and has done eminent service in 

 obstinate glandular obstructions, and in dropsies. If sheep that have the 

 rot are placed in a situation where they can get at the bark and the young 

 shoots, they will soon cure themselves. It is an ingredient in the black 

 dye. — The leaves are purgative like the bark, but more nauseous. They 

 are an ingredient in several cooling ointments. If turneps, cabbages, 

 fruit-trees, or corn, (which are subject to blight from a variety of insects) 

 are whipped with the green leaves and branches of elder, the insects will 

 not attack them. Phil. Trans, v. 62. p. 348. A decoction of the .flowers, 

 taken internally, is said to promote expectoration in pleurisies. If tne 

 flowers are fresh gathered they loosen the belly. Externally they are 

 used in fomentations to ease pain and abate inflammatiuu. Many people 

 use them to give a flavour to vinegar. They are fatal to turkics. A rob 

 prepared from the berries is a gentle opener, and promotes perspiration. 

 The juice of the berries is employed to give a red colour to raisin or sugar 

 wines. The berries are poisonous to poultry. — T he pith being exceed- 

 ingly light, is cut into balls, used in electrical experiments. Sheep eat It- 

 Horses, cows, and goats refuse it. Linn.— Others say thnt cows are fond 

 of it. The Aphis Sambuci } and the Phalana Sambucaria i are found upon it. 



