1610 



SAMBUOUS 



SAMPHIRE 



A. Color of fruit black or blackish. 



B. Fruit not glaucous. 



c. Height 12-25 ft. when full grown. 



nigra, Linn. Common European Elder. A large 

 shrub or small tree, 12-25 ft. high, with rough bark; 

 old wood hard, yellow, flne-graiued: Ifts. 5-9: fls. in 



cc. Height 5-12 ft. 



Canadensis, Linn. Common American or Sweet Elder. 

 Fig. 2247. Shrubby, 5-12 ft. high; wood with white pith 

 occupying the greater part of the stem: Ivs. pinnate* 

 Ifts. 5-11, smooth: fls. white, in a flat cyme: fr. black. 

 June, July. Fruit ripe Aug., Sept. Var. aurea has yel- 

 low foliage. Var. varieg^ta has yellowish white mark 

 ings. Var. laciniata has the Ifts. vari- 

 ously cut and indented. Var. glaiica 

 has whitish hairs on the leaves. Gng. 

 6:88. Gn. 55, p. 385. B.B. 3:228.-This 

 is the common Elder, blooming in mid- 

 summer, and one of the choicest of 

 native shrubs although seldom appre- 

 ciated. The flowers are fragrant. 



BB. Fruit glaucous, i.e., strongly 

 whitened with a meahj bloom. 



glaiica, Nutt. Arborescent, 6-18 ft. 

 high, glabrous throughout: Ifts. 5-9, 

 ovate to narrowly oblong. Pacific coast 

 east to Idaho and Nev. Seed offered 

 1901 in S. Calif. Gn. 53, p. 68. 



aa. Color of fruit red. 

 B. Petioles glabrous. 

 racemdsa, Linn. Lfts. oblong-acu- 

 minate, unequal at the base : fls. pani- 

 culate. Native of Eu. -Asia and closely 

 resembles the next ; perhaps a little 

 taller and the twigs usually 4-angled. 

 Vars. in the trade are plumdsa, plu- 

 mdsa adrea and laciniata, which are 

 not equal in value to similar forms of 

 .S'. nigra, var. laciniata. Var. ailrea^ 

 which is being sent out in 1901, 

 seems to belong to this species. 



BB. Petioles pubescent. 

 pilbens, Michx. Red-berried Elder. 

 Height 5-7 ft.; wood thicker than in 

 S. Canadensis, pith brown ; bark 

 warty: lfts. 5-7: fls. in pyramidal 

 paniculate cymes: fr. red. April, May. 

 Fruit ripening in June, while »S'. Can- 

 adensis is still in flower. N. Amer. 

 B.B. 3:228. — The American representa- 

 tive of S. racemosa, and by many 

 considered to be identical with that 



s]>oeiPR. 



John F. Cowell. 



8247. Common Elder, bloomine in summer— Sambucus Canadensis (X }^) 



flat 5-rayed cymes: fr. black or dark green. — May, June. 

 The following horticultural vars. are sufficiently distin- 

 guished by their names: arg6ntea, atirea, heterophylla, 

 laciniata, pulverul6nta, pyramid^lis, rotundifolia, varie- 

 g&,ta. Of these var. aurea is distinct by reason of its 

 yellow foliage; laci)uata and heferophi/lla by reason 

 of variously cut lfts., making them very effective in 

 mass planting. Var. variegafa is not constant in its 

 variegation. S. heterophylla, laciniata, variegata, etc., 

 of trade catalogues, are presumably varieties of S. 

 nigra. 



SAMPHIRE ( Crj7 7; >w Mm maritimum ) 

 is the name corrupted from sampier, 

 itself a corruption of the French Saint 

 Pierre (St. Peter), given to a succu- 

 lent-stemmed, half-hardy perennial, 

 well known upon rocky coasts above 

 high tide in Great Britain as sea-fen- 

 nel, parsley- pert, and St. Peter's herb. 

 It belongs to the family Umbelllferce . 

 The plants, which attain a height of 

 from 1-2 ft., have somewhat linear, 

 glaucous-green, fleshy leaves, 3^ in. 

 long, small, white or yellowish flowers, 

 which appear in umbels during July, 

 and oblong, yellowish, fennel -like, 

 smallish seeds of light weight, which 

 ripen in early autumn and lose their 

 germinating power within a year. For 

 more than three centuries the crisp and 

 aromatic leaves and young stems gath- 

 ered in August or September have 

 been used in salads and vinegar pickles. Samphire 

 rarely reaches perfection in gardens far from the sea- 

 coast, unless grown iipon sandy or gravelly soil, and 

 watered frequently and plentifully with weak salt and 

 soda solutions. It may be propagated by root division, 

 but better by sowing the seed as soon as ripe, the plants 

 being thinned to stand from 1-lM ft. asunder in rows 

 2-2K ft. apart. 



Golden Samphire (Inula crithmifolia), a native of tho 

 marshes and sea-coast of Great Britain, is iui erect 

 hardy perennial, 1-VA ft. tall, with small, fleshy leaves 



