SAMBUCUS. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. SAMBUCUS. 703 



de Feu, Alfred Rageneau, Bolide, Phare 

 Poitevin, and Lord Fauntleroy are very 

 dwarf kinds, flowering through a long 

 season and admirable for massing in the 

 front of borders. 



S. TARAXACIFOLIA. Rare and pretty 

 shrubby plant from the north of Africa, 

 with its lower leaves like those of a 

 Dandelion, and pale pink or purple flowers 

 with a yellow lip, 

 gathered in whorls of 

 six to ten together. 

 It needs light soil and 

 a sunny place in the 

 rock garden, but is 

 of doubtful hardiness 

 even under the best 

 conditions, and plants 

 should always be held 

 in reserve. 



S. TURKESTANICA. 



Hardy perennial kind 

 from W. Asia, with 

 angular stems 3 feet 

 high, ample foliage 

 which is strongly fra- 

 grant, and large white 

 flowers gathered in 

 whorls and surrounded 

 by pale pink-edged 

 bracts. The plant is 

 hardy and vigorous. 



S. VERBENACEA. A pretty native plant 

 about 1 8 inches high, with oblong wrinkled 

 leaves and blue or whitish flowers gathered 

 in sixes upon its numerous spikes. It is 

 coarse for the border, but interesting in 

 the wild garden. 



S. VIRGATA. A good kind, where its 

 abundant blue flowers and violet bracts 

 give good effect in July and August. The 

 plant is of medium size, hardy, and easily 

 increased by seed or division. 



Few of those described require special 

 treatment, the herbaceous perennials 

 being rapidly propagated by division 

 or seed, and the half-shrubby species 

 by cuttings of the young soft shoots 

 in heat. In August and September 

 they should be raised in a close cold 

 frame, and in spring they should be 

 treated like Heliotropes or Ageratums. 

 When large plants are required the 

 old ones can either be potted or put 

 close together in deep boxes ; and, if 

 potted, they should be cut down to 

 within 6 inches of the soil. Both old 

 plants and potted cuttings are easily 

 wintered in any dry place where frost 

 is excluded. 



SAMBUCUS (Elder}. Our native 

 Elder is little valued in gardens, yet a 

 well-grown tree, laden with its clusters 

 of creamy-white blossoms or a pro- 



fusion of purple fruits, is not without 

 effect. Added to this, it will hold its 

 own in any poor, dry soil, the leaves 

 are seldom attacked by insects, and 

 all the kinds bear hard pruning, and 

 are of easy increase from cuttings. 



The wild kinds are perhaps less 

 important for our purpose than their 

 garden forms. 



Sang'itinaria canadcnsis. 



S. CANADENSIS. N. America. Was in- 

 troduced long ago, but until recently has 

 remained almost unknown. In full flower 

 it is handsome and at its best in August, 

 when most flowering shrubs are past. 

 Though less woody than the common 

 species, it attains a height of 6 to 12 feet, 

 with bold, handsome leafage and flattened 

 clusters of creamy-white fragrant flowers, 

 which measure sometimes as much as 

 1 8 inches across. A new and beautiful 

 form of this shrub has recently come to 

 light in 5. canadensis acutiloba, the leaves 

 of which are cut into segments as fine as 

 any fern-frond. Though perhaps not yet 

 to be had easily, it will give a new charm 

 to our collections of hardy shrubs. 



S. EBULUS (Dane-wort). An herbaceous 

 Elder from N. Africa, China, and Europe, 

 including the British Isles. The popular 

 name refers to the legend that the plant 

 first sprang from the blood of Danish 

 invaders. It is a rough, rank-smelling 

 weed, growing from 2 to 4 feet high, with 

 finely-cut leaves and fine heads of flowers. 

 Its main value is for dry banks in the wild 

 garden or in coverts. 



S. GLAUCA. A little-known kind from 

 western N. America, where it is said to form 

 a tree of 30 to 50 feet. In this country it 

 does not appear likely to be of great value. 

 The name is derived from the glaucous 

 bloom with which the berries are covered, 

 which is so intense that though really 

 blackish they appear to be bluish- white. 



