CAPRIFOLIACE^E. I. SAMBUCUS. 



437 



Dwarf-elder or Dane-wort. Fl. July. Brit. PI. 4 to 5 feet. 



2 S. CHINE'NSIS (Lindl. hort. trans. 6. p. 297.) root 

 creeping ; stems herbaceous, warted, with dark furrows ; 

 leaves pinnate ; leaflets 7-9, oblong-lanceolate, crenately ser- 

 rated, naked on both surfaces ; flowers monoecious : female 

 ones cup-shaped, apetalous and fleshy. I/ . H. Native of 

 China. A strong, rough herbaceous plant, very like S. E'tulus. 

 The male flowers are white and numerous, with brownish-pur- 

 ple anthers. 



China Dwarf-elder. Fl. Sept. Clt. 1822. PI. 5 to 6 feet. 



3 S. PALME'NSIS (Link, in Buch. can. p. 151.) stems un- 

 known ; leaves pinnate ; leaflets lanceolate, serrated ; petioles, 

 nerves of leaves, and peduncles, densely hairy. Tj . ? H. Native 

 of the island of Palma, one of the Canaries, near Sauces. 



Palma Elder. Shrub ? 



4 S. ADNA'TA (Wall. cat. no. 482.) stems suffruticose ; leaves 

 pinnate ; leaflets 5-7, oblong-lanceolate, sharply serrated, pu- 

 bescent along the nerves, unequal at the base : the lower side 

 decurrent ; cymes trichotomous ; berries ovate, striated, almost 

 dry. Jj . H. Native of Nipaul, at Gosaingsthan. Flowers 

 white ? 



^rfnate-leafletted Elder. Shrub. 



5 S. JAVA'NICA (Reinw. in Blum, bijdr. p. 657.) stem suffru- 

 ticose ; stipulas foliaceous ; leaves pinnate ; leaflets oblong-lan- 

 ceolate, acuminated, oblique at the base, sharply and glandularly 

 serrulated ; corymbs with 3-5 main branches. Tj . G. Native 

 of Java, frequent on the mountains, where it is called Kitespon. 



Java Elder. Shrub. 



6 S. GAUDICHAUDIA'NA (D. C. prod. 4. p. 322.) stem suffru- 

 ticose ; leaves pinnate, glabrous ; leaflets ovate-lanceolate, acu- 

 minated, equal at the base, sharply serrated ; stipulas ovate, 

 foliaceous, serrated ; corymb pedunculate, umbellate, of 5 main 

 rays or branches. Jj . H. Native of New Holland, at Port 

 Jackson, where it was collected by Gaudichaud. According to 

 the description this appears to be nearly allied to S. Javdnica. 

 Berries ovate-globose, small. 



Gaudichaud' s Elder. Shrub 8 to 10 feet. 



7 S. MEXICA'NA (Presl. in herb. Haenke, ex D. C. prod. 4. 

 p. 322.) stem suffruticose ? leaves pinnate ; leaflets 7, ovate or 

 oblong-lanceolate, acute, serrated, rather hairy beneath as well 

 as on the petioles and branches ; corymb of 5 principal rays or 

 branches. J? . H. Native of Mexico. S. subalpina, Cham, et 

 Schlecht. in Linnaea. 5. p. 171. 



Mexican Elder. Shrub 5 to 8 feet. 



8 S. CANADE'NSIS (Lin. spec. 385.) frutescent, glabrous ; 

 leaves pinnate or sub-pinnate : leaflets about 4 pairs, oblong- 

 oval, stifflsh, acuminated, more or less pubescent beneath, some- 

 times appendiculated at the base ; cymes of 5 main branches. 

 T? . H. Native of North America, from Carolina to Canada, in 

 swamps and near hedges, and throughout Canada, as far as the 

 Saskatchawan. Schmidt, arb. 2. t. 142. Flowers said to be 

 almost inodorous. Berries deep bluish-black. 



Canadian Elder. Fl. Ju. Aug. Clt. 1761. Sh. 6 to 10 ft. 



9 S. NIGRA (Lin. spec. 385.) arboreous ; leaves pinnate ; 

 leaflets usually 5, smooth, deep green, ovate or oblong-oval, acu- 

 minated, the lower leaflets sometimes ternate ; cymes with 5 

 main branches. fj . H. Native throughout the whole of 

 Europe, Caucasus, Siberia, and probably of Japan, in hedges, 

 coppices, and woods, common ; plentiful in Britain, in like 

 situations ; the varieties rare, except in gardens. Duham. arb. 

 2. t. 65. ed. nov. 1. t. 55. Hayn. term. bot. t. 32. f. 2. Smith, 

 engl. bot. t. 476. Woodv. med. bot. t. 78. Fl. dan. t. 545. 

 Branches, after a year's growth, clothed with smooth grey bark, 

 and filled with a light spongy pith. Flowers cream-coloured, 

 with a sweet but faint smell. Berries globular, purplish black ; 

 their stalks reddish. It may be remarked that our uncertain 



summer is established by the time the elder is in full flower, and 

 entirely gone when its berries are ripe. The tree is, as it were, 

 a whole magazine of physic to rustic practitioners, nor is it 

 quite neglected by more regular ones. The berries make a 

 useful and agreeable rob, of a slightly purgative quality, and 

 very good for catarrhs, sore throats, &c. The inner bark is 

 more actively cathartic, and is thought beneficial in rustic oint- 

 ments and cataplasms for burns. The dried flowers serve for 

 fomentations, and make a fragrant but debilitating tea, useful 

 perhaps in acute inflammations, but not to be persisted in habi- 

 tually. An infusion of the leaves proves fatal to the various 

 insects which thrive on blighted or delicate plants ; nor do many 

 of this tribe, in the caterpillar state, feed upon them : cattle 

 scarcely touch them, and the mole is driven away by their scent. 

 A wine is made from the berries, to be taken warm, with spices 

 and sugar ; and they are said to frequently enter into the com- 

 position of a less innocent beverage artificial or adulterated 

 port. An infusion of the inner green bark of the trunk in wine, 

 or the expressed juice of the berries, in the dose of half an ounce, 

 is said to purge moderately, and in small doses to prove deob- 

 struent. The expressed juice of the berries, inspissated to the 

 consistence of a rob, proves an useful aperient medicine, and 

 if continued for a sufficient length of time, is of considerable 

 service in various chronical disorders. The young leaf-buds 

 are strongly purgative, and act with so much violence as to be 

 accounted unsafe. The flowers have an agreeable aromatic 

 flavour, like that of Frontignac wine, which they yield in dis- 

 tillation to water, and impart, by infusion, to vinous and spiri- 

 tuous liquors and oils. Sydenham recommends as an effec- 

 tual hydragogue diuretic 3 handfuls boiled in a quart of milk 

 and water till only a pint remains, of which one half is to be 

 taken night and morning, and repeated several days. Boerhaave 

 gave its expressed juice in doses from a drachm to half an 

 ounce. It is said also that if sheep who have the rot can get 

 the bark they will soon cure themselves. An infusion of the 

 leaves is useful for gardeners to sprinkle over the buds of such 

 flowers as they wish to preserve from minute caterpillars, for 

 few insects can bear the elder. In Scotland the tree is called 

 Bountry. 



Var. j3, virescens (D. C. prod. 4. p. 322.) fruit green, fj . H. 

 S. virescens, Desr. arb. fr. 1. p. 348. 



Var. y, leucocdrpa ; fruit white. ^ H. 



Var. S, laciniata; leaflets cut into fine segments, tj . H. S. 

 laciniata, Mill. diet. no. 2. Lob. icon. 2. t. 164. f. 2. Called 

 Parsley-leaved elder. 



Var. , rotundifolia ; leaves ternate ; leaflets petiolate, round- 

 ish, serrated ; corymbs few-flowered. T? . H. Cultivated in 

 Chelsea garden. 



Var. , monstrosa; branches striped; flowers of from 5-15 

 parts, and with from 5-15 stamens ; stigmas 5-12 ; berries irre- 

 gular. Jj . H. S. monstrosa, Hort. 



Var. i, variegata ; leaves variegated with yellow or white. 

 Pj.H. 



Common or Black-berried Elder. Fl. June. Britain. Shrub 

 10 to 15 feet. 



10 S. PERUVIA'NA (H. B. et Kunth, nov. gen. amer. 3. p. 

 429.) arboreous ; leaves pinnate ; leaflets 7, oblong, acuminated, 

 obtuse at the base, nearly equal ; petioles glabrous ; corymbs 

 somewhat trichotomous ; berries usually 5-seeded. f? H. 

 Native of Peru, on the Andes, in cultivated places, at the eleva- 

 tion of 4000 feet. S. suaveolens, Willd. in Schultes, syst. 6, 

 p. 441. FloVers white. Berries black. 



Peruvian Elder. Shrub 12 to 20 feet. 



11 S. AUSTBA'LIS (Cham, et Schlecht. in Linnaea. 3. p. 140.) 

 shrubby; leaves pinnate; stipulas glabrous; leaflets 11-13, 

 ovate-lanceolate, usually unequal at the base ; corymbs brac- 



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