SAMBUCUS 



SAMBUCUS 



3007 



SAMBUCUS (old Latin name for the elder, also 

 spelled Sabucus). Caprifolidcese. ELDER. Ornamental 

 mostly woody plants grown for their handsome foliage, 

 showy clusters of white flowers, and the attractive red 

 or black berries. 



Deciduous shrubs or small trees, with stout very 

 pithy branches, rarely perennial herbs: Ivs. opposite, 

 odd-pinnate, with serrate Ifts., with or without stipules 

 and stipels: fls. small, usually perfect, white, in terminal 

 compound cymes or panicles, usually 5-merous, rarely 

 3- or 4-merous; calyx-lobes minute; corolla rotate with 

 short tube and oval to oblong-lanceolate lobes ; stamens 

 with short filaments; ovary inferior, 3-5-celled; style 

 short, 3-5-lobed: fr. a drupe with 3-5 1 -seeded nut- 

 lets. About 20 species in the temperate and subtropi- 

 cal regions of both hemispheres. Some species, particu- 

 larly S. nigra and S. canadensis, possess medicinal 

 properties; the fr. of these species and also that of S. 

 cterulea is used in cookery, also elderberry wine is made 

 from it. The hard wood, the large pithy shoots which 

 are easily hollowed and the pith are put to various uses. 

 Monograph of the genus by Count Schwerin in M.D. 

 1909, pp. 1-56. 



The elders are large and rather coarse shrubs, rarely 

 tree-like, or perennials spreading by suckers, with 

 pinnate foliage and large flat or panicled clusters of 

 white or creamy white small flowers followed by red or 

 black, rarely glaucous or in some varieties green or 

 yellow fruits. They are well adapted for mass planting 

 and are very effective as well in bloom as in fruit in their 

 proper places. They prefer rich and humid soil and 

 most species are hardy North; S. cserulea and its var. 

 neo-mexicana are hardy at least as far north as Massa- 

 chusetts. Propagation is by seeds which germinate 

 readily and by hardwood and greenwood cuttings, also 

 by root-cuttings; the perennial species and also S. cana- 

 densis by suckers. 



A. St. woody. 



B. Berries black or dark purple, rarely green or white: 



pith white: cymes fiat. 



c. Fr. not glaucous. 



1. nigra, Linn. EUROPEAN ELDER. Large shrub or 

 tree, to 30 ft., with deeply furrowed bark: all parts 

 when bruised exhaling a disagreeable odor: branches 

 gray, strongly lenticellate: Ivs. dark green, usually 

 pubescent beneath while young; Ifts. 3-7, usually 5, 

 short-stalked, elliptic, acute, serrate, 2-6 in. long: 

 cymes 5-rayed, to 5 in. across: fr. black, lustrous, 3- 

 celled, 34~M m - across. May, June: fr. Aug., Sept. Eu., 

 W. Afr., W. Asia. S.E.B. 4:637. R.F.G. 12:780. H.W. 

 3, p. 132. G.C. III. 10:405. Many varieties: Var. 

 pyramidata, Lav. (var. pyramidalis, Dipp.). Habit 

 columnar. Var. pendula, Dipp. Pendulous or pros- 

 trate. Var. nana, Schwerin. Forming a globose bush 

 about 3 ft. high; weak-growing. Var. rotundifdlia, 

 Endl. Lfts. 3, rarely 5, broadly ovate to suborbicular. 

 Var. laciniata, Willd. (S. laciniata, Mill.). Lfts. regu- 

 larly and finely dissected. R.F.G. 12:780. A handsome 

 and distinct form. Var. heterophylla, Endl. (var. 

 linearis, Kirchn.). Lfts. irregularly cut and erose and 

 partly reduced to the midrib; slow-growing form. Var. 

 latisecta, Hesse. Lvs. broadly Iqbed. Var. albo- 

 variegata, Endl. Lvs. variegated with white. J.H.S. 

 33, p. 360, fig. 47. G.W. 11, p. 474. Var. pulverulenta, 

 Sweet. Lvs. finely dotted and sprinkled with white. 

 Var. atlrea, Sweet. Lvs. golden yellow. G.W. 2, p. 

 565. Var. viridis, Ait. (var. chlorocdrpa, Hayne. Var. 

 virescens, Sweet). Fr. pale green, striped whitish. 

 M.D. 1908:8, fig. 2. 



2. canadensis, Linn. AMERICAN or SWEET ELDER. 

 Fig. 3M3. Shrub, to 12 ft., stoloniferous: branches pale 

 yellowish gray, slightly lenticellate : Ivs. bright green ; Ifts. 

 usually 7, short-stalked, elliptic to lanceolate, acute or 

 acuminate, sharply serrate, sometimes pubescent on the 

 veins beneath, 2-5 in. long: cymes 5-rayed, to 10 in. 

 across: fr. purplish black, usually 4-celled. June, July; 

 fr. in Sept. Nova Scotia and Man. to Fla. and Texas. 

 B.B. (ed.2)3:268. G. 27:541. M.D.G. 1899:169. Var. 

 submollis, Rehd. Lvs. grayish green and soft-pubes- 

 cent beneath. 111. to Ark. and Texas. Var. mfixima, 

 Hesse. Lvs. larger: cymes to 18 in. across. Very vigor- 

 ous grower. G.W. 11, p. 397. G.M. 51:451. Var. 

 acutiloba, Ellwanger & Barry (var. laciniata, Cowell). 

 Lvs. much dissected, the lower Ifts. pinnatifid, the upper 

 ones incisely serrate and narrowly lanceolate. A very 

 handsome and distinct form. F.S.R. 1, p. 151. Var. 

 aurea, Cowell (var. delicatissima, Schwerin). Lvs. 

 golden yellow: berries cherry-red. F.E. 22:433. Var. 

 chlorocfirpa, Rehd. Fr. greenish: Ivs. pale yellowish 

 green. The handsomest and most effective of the 

 elders in bloom, also attractive when weighed down 

 with its large clusters of purplish black berries. 



cc. Fr. glaucous. 



3. cserulea, Raf. (S. glauca, Nutt.). Large shrub or 

 small tree, occasionally to 50 ft.: branchlets rather 

 slender, bloomy when young: Ifts. 5-7, oblong, long- 

 acuminate, coarsely serrate, the lower Ifts. often 3- 

 parted or pinnate, bright green, glabrous, 2-6 in. long: 

 fls. yellowish white, in flat cymes 4-6 in. wide: fr. sub- 

 globose, Jim. thick, blue-black, whitened by a thick 

 bloom. June, July; fr. in Aug. and Sept. Brit. Col. to 

 Calif., east to Mont, and Utah. S.S. 5:222. G.W. 

 8:116. Var. velutina, Schwerin (S. velidina, Durand). 

 Young branchlets and Ivs. covered with a dense and 

 short whitish pubescence. Calif. Var. neo-mexicana, 

 Rehd. (S. glauca var. neo-mexicana, A. Nels. S. inter- 

 media, Carr.). Lfts. 3-5, narrow-lanceolate, grayish 

 green, slightly pubescent beneath. New Mex., Ariz. 

 M.D. 1909:8, fig. 1. This species is similar to S. 

 canadensis, but habit looser and taller, very striking 

 with its large clusters of bluish white frs.; the typical 



