VIBURNUM ARROW- WOOD. 163 



Medical Properties and Uses. — The root lias a disagreeable odor and a 

 bitter, nauseous taste. It is cathartic and in large doses emetic ; rai-ely 

 used. 



SAMBUCUS.— Elder. 



Sambucus Canadensis Linne. — Common Elder. 



Description. — Calyx minutely 5-toothed, the teeth at length obsolete. 

 Corolla urn-shaped, the lobes obtuse, widely spreading. Stamens 5. 

 Stigmas 3. Fruit a juicy, berry-like drupe, containing 3 small seed-like 

 nutlets. 



A shrubby plant, with numerous stems, 5 to 10 feet high, with a com- 

 paratively large pith. Leaves unequally pinnate ; leaflets 7 to 11, oblong 

 or oval, acuminate, serrate. Flowers numerous, white, in compound 

 cymes, appearing in June. Fruit small, dark purple or black, edible, 

 though having a taste which is, to most people, rather disagreeable. 



Habitat. — In thickets and along neglected fences from Canada to Flor- 

 ida and westward ; everywhere common. 



Part Used. — The flowers — United States Pharmacopceia. The hemes, 

 the inner bark of the stem, and the bark of the root are also employed, but 

 are not ofiicial. 



Constituents. — Of the flowers : they have a peculiar, sweetish odor and 

 a bitterish taste. Uj)on distillation with water they yield a peculiar vola- 

 tile oil of a but}T.-aceous consistence. Of the berries : saccharine matter 

 and malic acid. Of the bark : an acid identical with valerianic acid, be- 

 sides common vegetable principles. 



Preparations.— '^one are olficial. An aromatic water, prepared by dis- 

 tillation from the flowers of a European species, is official with the British. 

 The inspissated juice of the berries has been employed medicinally, and a 

 wine made by fermenting the fresh juice is considerably used in some 

 parts of the country. The bark is commonly employed in infusion. 



Medical Properties and Uses. — Elder-flowers are said to be slightly sudor- 

 ific ; in the form of the distilled water, their only use is as a fragrant vehi- 

 cle. The berries are sometimes used in jireparing cooling drinks ; they 

 appear to have no special medicinal activity. The bark and root are 

 actively cathartic and were formerly used as hydi-agogues. 



VIBURNUM. —Arrow- WOOD. 



Character of the Genus.— Calyx 5-toothed. Corolla rotate, deeply 5- 

 lobed. Stamens 5. Ovary 1- to 3-celled ; one of the cells containing an 

 ovule, the others abortive ; stigmas 3. Fruit a 1-celled, 1-seeded drupe, 

 with a thin pulp and a crustaceous, somewhat flattened stone. 



Shrubs or small trees, with simple, undivided, or lobed leaves. Flowers 

 white, in flat, terminal, compound cymes ; the marginal flowers sometimes 

 sterile or radiant. 



