CAPRIFOLIACEAE 



Blueberry Elder 

 Sambucus glauca Nutt. {Sambucus cerulea Raf.) 



HABIT. A shrub or small tree 30-50 feet high and 12-18 

 inches in diameter; compact, round-topped crown. 



LEAVES. Opposite; unequally pinnately compound; pet- 

 iolate; deciduous; 5-7 inches long; leaflets 5-9, ovate or narrow 

 oblong, coarsely serrate margin, 1-6 inches long, green above, 

 pale and glabrous to pubescent below. 



FLOWERS. Regular; perfect; small {Vq inch in diameter); 

 in broad, terminal, long-branched corymbose cymes; corolla 

 yellow-white, stamens 5; ovary inferior, 3-5 celled. 



FRUIT. Dense clusters of small, blue, drupelike berries; 

 14 inch in diameter, with sweet, juicy flesh. Seed: 3-5 1 -seeded 

 nutlets in each drupe. 



TWIGS. Stout; somewhat angled; pubescent first year; red- 

 brown; nearly encircled by large, triangular leaf-scars; thick, 

 soft pith. Winter buds: terminal absent; lateral scaly, greenish. 



BARK. Thin; dark brown, tinged with red. 



WOOD. Light; soft; weak; coarse-grained; diffuse-porous; 

 heartwood yellow tinged with brown, durable; unimportant. 



SILVICAL CHARACTERS. Intolerant; short-lived; repro- 

 duction abundant but scattered; coppices freely; moist porous 

 soils; along streams, ravines, or moist hillsides. 



The key distinguishes between the seven native species : 



1. Native to western North America. 



2. Cymes flat-topped; fruit blue-black, commonly glaucous. 



3. Twigs and lower surface of leaf pubescent; leaves deciduous 



western Arizona and California 



S. velutina D. & H., Velvet Elder 



3. Twigs and leaves usually glabrous or nearly so. 



4. Leaves persistent; leaflets 3-5, oblong-lanceolate to ovate; 



western Texas to southern California 



S. mexicana Presl., Mexican Elder 



4. Leaves deciduous; leaflets 5-9, lanceolate to oblong- 

 lanceolate S. glauca. Blueberry Elder 



2. Cymes pyramidal to ovoid. 



5. Fruit red; leaflets 5-9, oval, slightly pubescent below, Pacific 



coast from Alaska to southern California 



S. callicarpa Greene, Pacific Red Elder 



5. Fruit black; leaflets commonly 5, scurfy-puberulent or villous 

 below; Alberta and Montana south to New Mexico and Cali- 

 fornia S. melanocarpa Gray, Black Bead Elder 



1. Native to eastern North America; usually shrubs. 



6. Leaflets usually 5, obovate to oblong; Florida to Louisiana 



S. simpsonii Rehd., Florida Elder 



6. Leaflets usually 7, lanceolate to elliptic; Nova Scotia to Manitoba 

 to Florida and Texas S. canadensis L., American Elder 



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