146 



FIELD AND WOODLAND PLANf^ 



are white, generally tinged with pink, and form a large terminal 

 umbel of from sixteen to forty rays, with two or three narrow 

 primary bracts, and several fine secondary ones. They bloom 

 dm'ing July and August, and are succeeded by flattened fruits 

 with three ribs on the back of each of the two carpels. The carpels 

 are also broadly winged ; and, as the wings do not adhere, each fruit 

 is surrounded by a double wing. 



The Elder. 



The order Caprifoliacece includes the Common Elder {Sambucus 

 nigra), the white or cream-coloured flowers of which are so conspicu- 

 ous in our woods and hedgerows in June. This tree grows to a 

 height of fifteen or twenty feet, and its young branches are remark- 

 able for the large quantity of pith they contain. The general 

 form of the leaves and the arrangement of the flowers are seen in our 

 illustration. Each flower has a calyx with five small teeth ; a 

 corolla with a short tube and five spreading hmbs ; five stamens 

 attached to the base of the corolla ; and an inferior ovary. The 



