WOODBINE TRIBE 99 



set'ti and heard in my younger years." An objection to burning Elian-wood 

 will be found to survive in some parts of this country. 



2. Dwarf Elder, or Banewort (S. ihulns). — ^Stem herbaceous, furrowed ; 

 stipules egg-shaped, serrated ; leaves pinnate ; leaflets serrated ; flowers in 

 terminal cymes ; root perennial. This plant has, during June and July, when 

 it is in flower, a general resemblance to the Common Elder, and its scent is 

 also similar. It is, however, a herb and not a tree, and its angular stem is 

 not more than two or three feet high. The blossoms are white, tinged on the 

 outside with red, and the anthers are conspicuous by their purple colour. 

 The berries are reddish-black, and have violent emetic properties, though 

 they were prescribed by old physicians, and praised by herbalists for their 

 efficacy in many disorders ; a confection made of the fruit is said to be eaten 

 with safety in small quantities, and is sometimes used medicinally. The 

 berries afibrd a violet juice, which gives a good blue dye. They are strewed 

 in granaries, that their strong odour may drive mice from the corn ; and the 

 Silesian farmers commonly place them among their pigs, believing them to 

 cure some maladies to which these animals are liable. No cattle will touch 

 the foliage, but the leaves, dried and powdered, are said to furnish a good 

 material for cleaning metal. The Dwarf Elder is not common, but is found 

 occasionally by waysides and in waste places. 



Sir J. E. Smith thus accounted for the name Danewort :— " Our ancestors 

 evinced a just hatred of their brutal enemies the Danes, in supposing the 

 nauseous, fcBtid, and noxious plant before us to have sprung from their 

 blood." Sir J. D. Hooker says the plant is supposed to have been introduced 

 by the Danes. 



2. GrUELDER RosE {Vibuniwii). 



1. Mealy Guelder Rose, or Wayfaring Tree {V. lantdna). — Leaves 

 elliptic, heart-shaped at the base, serrated, downy beneath ; flowers in ter- 

 minal cymes ; root perennial. Those who are used to parts of England in which 

 chalk and limestone prevail are mostly familiar with this shrub, for it grows 

 frequently in the woods and hedges of such dry soils south of Yorkshire. 

 One of its common names is Cotton Tree, doubtless from the cottony appear- 

 ance of its young shoots. As early as February these attract the attention 

 of the country rambler, for they stand up above the branches of the leafless 

 thorn and other plants, each surmounted by a small close button-like tuft of 

 grey-green hue, which in time displays the greyish-green strongly-veined 

 leaves and the opening buds of the cluster. As the foliage gradually unfolds 

 its downy covering gives it the appearance of being covered with dust, and 

 by May the large compact clusters of white flowers are fully expanded. 

 Though a sober-looking plant, yet it is bright enough in autumn, when 

 its bunches of glossy fruits are of a most brilliant scarlet, gradually 

 changing as they ripen into purplish-black, and distinguishing themselves 

 from all our other wild-wood berries by growing in flat compact clusters, 

 as well as by having some fruits in the cluster of glowing scarlet, while 

 others are dark as jet. Their flavour is very austere, and they seem to be 

 left untouched by the birds, which probably only feed on them when other 

 berries are not to be had. They are also astringent in property ; but in 



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