140 



nSLb AND WOObLANb PLANTS 



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 

 dvu-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 u-inged ; and, as the wings do not adhere, each fruit 

 is surrounded by a doul)]e wing. 



The order Caprifoliacece includes the Common Elder [Samhucus 

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

 ous in our woods and hedgeroA\s in June. Tiiis tree groA\s to a 

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

 able for the large quantity of pilli tliey contain. The general 

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

 illustration. Each flower has a calyx witli 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 



