494 SAMBUCUS 



ones are hardy in Britain. From the remainder of the hardy shrubs 

 belonging to the same family, the elders are at once distinguished by 

 their pinnate leaves, which have always an odd number (three to eleven) 

 of toothed leaflets. The flowers are borne in flat, convex, or pyramidal 

 clusters, and are very uniform in size and hue, being from J to T 3 F in. 

 across, and of some shade of white. The various parts are normally in 

 fives. Fruit |- in. or less in diameter, globose,. or nearly so, containing 

 three to five one-seeded nutlets. All the cultivated species are deciduous, 

 and have opposite leaves ; the young shoots are soft and full of pith, but 

 the wood of the trunk is hard and bony. 



The elders like moisture and a loamy soil; given these they are not 

 difficult to accommodate. They can be propagated by cuttings either of 

 leafless wood put in the open ground in early winter, or by half-ripened 

 young wood with a "heel" in frames. The pruning of the sorts grown 

 for their foliage should be done before growth recommences. The 

 following is a selection of the best : 



FOR FLOWERS. S. nigra roseo fl. pi. ; S. canadensis maxima. 



FOR FRUIT. S. nigra and its var. fructu albo; S. racemosa (where 

 it succeeds). 



FOR COLOURED LEAVES. S. racemosa plumosa aurea; S. nigra foliis 

 aureis ; S. nigra albo-variegata. 



FOR HANDSOMELY CUT LEAVES. S. racemosa tenuifolia; S. racemosa 

 serratifolia. 



S. Ebulus, Linnceus, the British plant known as " Dane's blood " is 

 herbaceous. 



The following hardy species are easily divided into two groups according to the 

 shape of the inflorescence, as follows : 



1. canadensis, glauca, nigra, velutina, flowers in flat or umbrella-shaped umbels. 



2. melanocarpa, pubens, racemosa, flowers in panicles. 



S. CANADENSIS, Linnceus. AMERICAN ELDER. 



A deciduous shrub, up to 12 ft. high, with white pith; young branches 

 smooth. Leaves pinnate, the leaflets mostly seven (but also five, nine, and 

 eleven), oval, oblong, or roundish ovate; the largest 5^ ins. long, 2^ ins. wide; 

 taper-pointed, sharply toothed, the lowest pair frequently two- or tnree-lobed; 

 lower surface smooth or slightly downy. Flowers in convex umbels, 4 to 

 8 ins. across, white, produced in July. Fruit purple-black. 



Native of Eastern N. America from Canada to Florida ; introduced in 

 1761. Nearly allied to S. nigra, it differs in the following respects : it never 

 assumes a tree-like form or becomes half as high as nigra; the leaves have 

 normally one more pair of leaflets; the flower clusters are more rounded and 

 appear four weeks later; the fruit is not absolutely black. I have seen it 

 making a very pleasing picture growing by the side of a stream in the 

 Arnold Arboretum, Mass., flowering in July, but it is not so good in this 

 country as nigra. 



Var. LACINIATA, Gray (acutiloba, Rehder). A cut-leaved form analogous 

 to the var. laciniata of the common elder, but more graceful owing to the 

 longer and more divided leaf. 



Var. MAXIMA, Koehne. This, the best and most remarkable form of 

 American elder in cultivation, was originally sent out under the erroneous 

 name of " S. pubens maxima," and, unfortunately, is still grown in many 



