496 SAMBUCUS 



honoured place in domestic pharmacy than the elder. From its berries is. 

 prepared, by boiling with sugar, a wine or syrup which, diluted with hot water, 

 is a favourite beverage in rural districts. It is usually taken just before 

 bedtime, and is considered a useful remedy for colds, chills, etc. 



A large number of varieties have been obtained under cultivation, of 

 which the following only need be mentioned as the most distinct : 



Var. ALBO-VARIEGATA. A handsomely variegated shrub, whose leaves 

 are bordered with creamy white. 



Var. FLORE PLENO. Flowers with a double row of petals ; ROSEO FL. PL. 

 is the same, with rosy flowers. 



Var. FOLiis AUREIS. Golden Elder. A good yellow-leaved shrub. Useful 

 for producing a broad patch of colour, as it improves in depth as the season 

 advances ; may be pruned back every spring. 



Var. FRUCTU-ALBO (viridis). Fruits greenish white. The wine made from 

 them is clear. Also known as " leucocarpa " and " chlorocarpa." 



Var. HETEROPHYLLA (linearis). In this form the blade of many leaflets 

 is reduced to thread-like proportions, consisting of little more than the stalk 

 and midrib. Others are to f in. wide, but distorted and shapeless. A 

 curiosity only. 



Var. LACINIATA. Parsley-leaved Elder. The handsomest cut-leaved 

 variety of common elder, the leaflets being pinnately divided into linear, 

 pointed lobes. There is also a variegated form of this. 



Var. PENDULA. A weeping form with stiff, pendulous branches. 



Var. PYRAMIDALIS. A stiffly erect, inelegant form. 



Var. ROTUNDIFOLIA. Leaves often with only three leaflets, proportion- 

 ately broader, smaller and rounder than the type. 



S. PUBENS, MichdUX. RED-BERRIED AMERICAN ELDER. 



(S. racemosa var. pubescens, Dippel^) 



This species, which is found wild over a considerable area in N. America, 

 on both the eastern and western sides, is so closely allied to the Old World 

 S. racemosa, that many authors do not separate them. The American shrub 

 is distinguished by its young shoots, leaves, and flower-stalks being downy, 

 the pith being brown, and the fruit-panicles not so densely packed with 

 berries. 



On Vancouver Island, British Columbia, where the typical S. pubens 

 makes a grand display in partially cleared woods, with its red fruits, a 

 variety with golden yellow berries is found, var. XANTHOCARPA. A variety 

 with white fruits (LEUCOCARPA) is also known. 



S. RACEMOSA, Linnczus. RED-BERRIED ELDER. 



A deciduous shrub, 8 to 12 ft. high, and as much through; young bark 

 smooth, pith white. Leaves pinnate, 6 to 9 ins. long, composed of five 

 leaflets, which are oval or ovate, 2 to 4 ins. long, | to if ins. wide ; taper- 

 pointed, sharply und regularly toothed, smooth on both surfaces. Flowers 

 produced during April in terminal pyramidal panicles i^ to 3 ins. high, 

 scarcely so much wide; yellowish white. Berries scarlet; ripe in June and 

 July; packed tightly in panicles. _ 



Native of Europe (not of Britain), Asia Minor, Siberia, and N. China ; 

 cultivated in England since the sixteenth century. This very beautiful- 

 fruited shrub is only occasionally seen in perfection in this country, although 

 it grows well and flowers abundantly. It fruits admirably near Paris, and 

 those who have ; visited the upland valleys of Switzerland in July will have 



