Scarlet Tree Elder 



849 



ovoid or turbinate, 3- to 5-toothed or lobcd;.thc corolla is wheel-shaped, regular, 

 and has 3 to 5 lobes; the 5 stamens adhere to the base of the corolla-tube, their 

 slender filaments bearing oblong anthers which open outwardly; the ovary is com- 

 posed of 3 to 5 cells, each containing a pendulous ovule, and ripens into a berry- 

 like drupe containing 3 to 5 i -seeded nutlets which have a fleshy endosperm nearly 

 as long as the elongated llattish seed; the style is 3- to 5 -parted. 



These well-known plants are of but slight economic value. The bark and 

 flowers are of some little medicinal repute, and the fruits of some species are eaten 

 or made into wine. 



The generic name applied by Linnaeus is the Latin name for the Old World 

 Elder, Samhucus nigra Linnaeus, and is supposed to have reference to some musi- 

 cal instrument that was made of its hollow stem. The arborescent species in our 

 flora are: 



Inflorescence ovoid or conic; Pacific coast trees or shrubs; fruit red or scarlet. 

 Leaflets lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate. 

 Leaflets oval to obovate. 

 Inflorescence convex or flat-topped; fruit blue or black. 

 Foliage and inflorescence hairy, at least when young. 

 Foliage smooth or very nearly so. 

 Fruit not glaucous. 

 Fruit glaucous, with a bloom. 



I. SCARLET TREE ELDER Sambucus arborescens Nuttall 



This Elder reaches its greatest development of 9 meters in height on the rich 

 bottom lands along streams in the lower 

 valleys of the Columbia and Willamette 

 rivers in Oregon. It also occurs in 

 northwTStem California and from Wash- 

 ington north to Alaska, and is often 

 shrubby. 



The light red-brown twigs have a 

 thick brownish pith. The leaves are 

 quite large, bright green and smooth on 

 the upper surface, lighter green and more 

 or less hair}', at least on the veins be- 

 neath; the 7 to 9 leaflets are lanceolate 

 or elliptic-lanceolate, 7 to 14 cm. long, 

 and about one fourth as wide; they arc 

 short-stalked, tapering from about the 

 middle to a long point and to an un- 

 equally rounded or narrowed base; the 

 margins are very finely toothed. The thyrsoid cymes are ovoid in outline, about 

 6 cm. across, and composed of many white to yellowish flowers. The rather 



Fig. 77 1. Scarlet Tree Elder. 



