ELDER. 



SAMBUCUS. 



CAPKIFOLIACE.*. PENTANDK1A 1K1GTMA. 



French, sureau ; Italian, sambuco. 



THE common Elder, Sambucus nigra, is a bushy tree, 

 growing to a height of about sixteen feet, much branched, 

 and covered with a smooth grey bark when young, which 

 afterwards becomes rough on the trunk and older 

 branches. The flowers are of a mellow creamy white, 

 with a faint sweet smell, especially when dried ; the 

 berries are globular, dark purple, mawkishly sweet ; their 

 juice watery and red. The wood is hard and tough, 

 and will take nearly as good a polish as box. 



This tree is a native of Britain, and many other parts 

 of Europe, of Africa, of Japan, &c. In this country it 

 grows abundantly in damp hedges and woods ; flowering 

 in May and June. 



The whole plant has a narcotic smell, and it is not pru- 

 dent to sleep under its shade, notwithstanding Thomson's 

 recommendation : 



When the sun 



Shakes from his noon-day throne the scattering clouds, 



E'en shooting listless languor through the deeps, 



Then seek the bank where flowering elders crowd ; 



Where, scattered wild, the lily of the vale 



Its balmy essence breathes, where cowslips hang 



The dewy head, where purple violets lurk, 



With all the lowly children of the shade." 



