132 Honeysuckle (Caprifoliacece) 



odor when crushed. Leaf-stems, smooth. Bark, 

 warty, that of the new shoots bright green, that of 

 the older branches purplish-brown, or in winter light 

 grayish. Branches, swollen at the joints. Pith, 

 abundant and white. 



Fruit, small, black-purple when ripe, round, pulpy, abun- 

 dant, three-seeded, with dark, crimson juice. August, 

 September. 



Found, in waste places, often forming thickets ; very com- 

 mon north, south, east, and west. 



A shrub six to ten feet high, with weak, pithy, large- 

 jointed branches. "In domestic medicine this plant 

 forms almost a pharmacy in itself," flowers, leaves, leaf- 

 buds, inner-bark, berries all are used. Elder-blow tea 

 (an infusion of the flowers), when cold, is alterative and 

 laxative ; when hot, an excitant. The inner bark is used 

 in preparing ointments ; the juice of the berries makes a 

 cooling laxative drink, and is made also into a medicinal 

 "elder-berry wine." The berries are used in cookery. 

 The unopened flower-buds are pickled and used as a good 

 substitute for "capers." An infusion of the juice forms 

 a delicate test for the presence of acids and alkalies. The 

 pith of the stems furnishes the best pith balls for electrical 

 experiments. 



Red-berried Elder. S. pitbens, Michx. S. racembsa. L. 



This species differs from the preceding chiefly in the 

 following items : 



Flowers, in egg-shaped or pyramidal clusters. May. 

 Leaflets, five to seven (oftenest five), long oval to lance- 



