HONEYSUCKLE FAMILY 



(Caprifoliaceoe) 



Shrubby plants, often vines, with opposite leaves, the regular 

 and irregular flowers gamopetalous, and commonly in parts of 5. 



ELDER (Sambucus glauca, Nutt.). Flowers white, small, 

 in large, flat-topped, compound clusters; leaves opposite, 

 compound with smooth leaflets, deciduous; berries blue with a 

 dense mealy-white "bloom." Usually a tree 15 to 20 feet 

 tall, but sometimes attaining a height of 30 or even 40 feet; 

 blooming April till June on moist hillsides and in canon bottoms 

 from Southern California to British Columbia, eastward to 

 Idaho, Nevada, and Utah. 



The berries of this Pacific Coast Elder are used for pies and 

 jellies. The Indians not only ate the fruit, but from the dried 

 blossoms made a tea for fevers and digestive troubles, as well 

 as a wash for sprains and the itch. The wood, after the pith 

 was pushed out, was turned into whistles and flutes, or split 

 and fashioned into clappers for dancers. Bows were also made 

 from it. 



S. Mexicana, Presl., occurs in parts of California and Arizona, 

 the leaves downy and the berries without "bloom." 

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