CAPRIFOLIACEi^ 



Native of N. America ; there a tree 30-50 ft. Discovered early in the 

 nineteenth century in Oregon by a party under the leadership of Lewis and 

 Clark. 



COMMON ELDER, Smnhucus nigra. 



Woods, coppices, hedgerows, gardens, waste places. June. Thrives best 

 in good loamy soil, with moisture. 



Floweis cream-white, in a fiat corymbose cyme, G ins. or more in diam., 

 much branched, 5 primary brandies ; Calyx .5-cleft, with small teeth ; CoroUa 

 rotate, 5-lobed, \ in. diam., tube very short ; Stamens 5, inserted at base of 

 corolla, filaments slender ; Ovary 3-celled, inferior, stigma sessile, 3-lobed ; 

 Fruit a berry-like drupe, small, globular, succulent, aromatic, purplish-black, 

 usually 3 stone-like seeds. 



Leaves opposite, imparipinnate, petiolate, exstipulate, leaflets 5-9, ovate- 

 oblong, 1-3 ins. long, serrate, acute or acuminate, nearly glabrous, having an 

 unpleasant odour, stipules small or absent. Autumn leaves yellow-green. 



A deciduous shrub or small ti-ee, 20-25 ft. ; gro\vi;h very rapid when 

 young ; Stem and branches full of pith ; branchlets angular, gi-ass-green, show- 

 ing lenticels well, juicy ; Bark grey, rough, corky ; Bud-scales olive or greenish- 

 brown, membranous ; Lenticels conspicuous ; Wood hard, heavy, used for small 

 turnery and cabinet work. 



Indigenous in England and Ireland. Specific name from Gr. sambyke, 

 a musical instrument, probably a liarp ; L. sambuca, a triangular stringed 

 instrument with a sharp, shrill note ; English name from A.S. ellcern, the 

 hollow tree. 



SCARLET-BERRIED ELDER, Sambucus raccmosa. 



Gardens, shrubberies. April, May. The bunches of scarlet berries make 



this a very attractive shrub in late summer. Moisture at the roots is essential 



for its perfect development, and when in such positions, as on river-banks or at 



pond-heads, the running roots help to bind the soil. 



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