SAMBUCUS. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. SANGUINARIA. 837 



soil, the leaves are seldom attacked by 

 insects, and all the kinds bear hard 

 pruning and are of easy increase from 

 cuttings. 



The wild kinds are perhaps less im- 

 portant for our purpose than their garden 

 forms. 



S. NIGRA (the Common Elder) is most 

 useful in its variety aurea with leaves of a 

 golden hue, particularly during the 

 summer and early autumn months. They 

 are not variegated, but entirely yellow, 

 and so effective that when in good 

 condition and planted with judgment it 

 is perhaps the most valuable golden- 

 leaved shrub that we have. Planted in a 

 mass and cut down to the ground annually 

 is a good way of growing it. Other varieties 

 of the Common Elder are variegata, with 

 leaves freely variegated with creamy- 

 white ; flore-plena, and flore-raseo plena, 

 double forms with creamy-white and 

 pinkish flowers- respectively ; latiniata, 

 whose leaflets are prettily cut and fringed ; 

 leticocarpa, with white fruits ; rotundifolia, 

 with curiously rounded leaflets ; and 

 virescens, whose fruits when ripe are 

 greenish. 



S. CANADENSIS, from North America, 

 was introduced long ago, but until recently 

 has remained almost unknown. In full j 

 flower it is handsome and at its best in 

 August, when most flowering shrubs are 

 past. Though less woody than the 

 common species, it attains a height of 6 

 feet to 12 feet, with bold, handsome leaf- 

 age, and flattened clusters of creamy- 

 white, fragrant flowers, which measure 

 .sometimes as much as 18 inches across. 

 A new and beautiful form of this shrub 

 has recently come to light in S. canadensis 

 acutiloba, the leaves of which are cut into 

 segments as fine as any fern-frond. 

 Though perhaps not yet to be had easily, 

 it will give a new charm to our collections 

 of hardy shrubs. 



S. EBULUS (Dane-wort}. An her- 

 baceous Elder from North Africa, China, 

 and Europe, including the British Isles. 

 The popular name refers to the legend 

 that the plant first sprang from the blood 

 of Danish invaders. It is a rough, rank- 

 smelling weed, growing from 2 to 4 feet 

 high, with finely cut leaves and whitish 

 flowers. Its only value is for dry banks in 

 the wild garden, or in coverts and rough 

 places. 



S. GLAUCA. A little-known kind, from 

 Western North America, where it is said 

 to form a tree of 30 to 50 feet. In this 

 country it does not appear likely to be of 

 great value. The name is derived from 

 the glaucous bloom with which the berries 



are covered, which is so intense that 

 though really blackish they appear to be 

 bluish-white. 



S. RACEMOSA (Scarlet Elder). 

 Although not a native of this country, 

 S. racemosa occurs wild throughout much 

 of the northern hemisphere. Its popular 

 name is derived from the colour of its ripe 

 fruits, and when borne freely they are 

 very ornamental, but in this country they 

 are often only sparingly produced ; where 

 the summers are brighter than ours, it 

 fruits freely. In appearance the Scarlet 

 Elder somewhat resembles our own 

 species, but is readily known by the 

 flowers expanding much earlier, by their 

 coming in a pyramidal-shaped (instead of 

 a flat) cluster, and the bright red berries, 

 which ripen long in advance of the 

 Common Elder. A cool, moist soil and 

 a sunny spot seem to suit the Scarlet- 

 berried Elder the best. It has 'given rise 

 to many varieties, in which the leafage 

 often forms the distinguishing feature. 

 Chief among them are laciniata, ovata, 

 plumosa, pteridifolia, and serratifolia, all 

 with leaves cut and slashed to a greater 

 or less extent. A form of plumosa which 

 originated in Holland has leaves of a rich 

 yellow, like the golden form of the 

 Common Elder, but less vigorous. The 

 variety tenuifolia is a striking plant in 

 which the leaf segments are reduced to 

 long, narrow strips, seldom more than an 

 eighth of an inch in width. The flowers 

 of spectabilis are less green than those of 

 the others, while in rosceflora they are 

 pinkish. A wild variety is pubescens, of 

 North America, by some authorities 

 separated from S. racemosa. 



SAMOLUS. S. littoralis is a pretty 

 trailing plant, with long slender stems, 

 small evergreen foliage, and numerous 

 pink blossoms in summer. It thrives in 

 the bog-garden or moist spots in the 

 rock-garden, delighting in moisture and 

 a peaty soil. New Zealand. 



SANGUINARIA (Bloodroot). S. 

 canadensis is a pretty and distinct hardy 

 plant, its thick creeping root-stocks send- 

 ing up glaucous leaves about 6 in. high ; 

 the flowers, borne singly on stems as high 

 as the leaves, are i in. across, white, with 

 a tassel of yellow stamens in spring, in 

 good-sized tufts, having a pretty effect. 

 Sometimes the flowers are pinkish. It 

 grows well in any border, but under 

 the branches of deciduous trees on lawns 

 it spreads about, and, without attention, 

 becomes a charming wildling, in moist 

 soil. It is strongest and best in moist 

 peaty bottoms in woods or otherwise. It 

 may be increased by division in autumn. 



