434 



FOREST TREES OF THE PACIFIC SLOPE. 



Blue Elderberry. 

 Sambucus glaucq a Nuttall. 



DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS. 



Blue elderberry is known in tbe field simply as " elder." Tbe name here sug- 

 gested for the sake of distinctness has reference to the pale, bluish berries, which 

 differ in color from the fruit of any other Pacific elder. 



Fig. 2iiT. — Sambucus glauca, one-half natural size. 



In favorable locations it is commonly from 15 to 20 feet high, often with a 

 slender, straight trunk from 4 to 8 inches through, and a rather dense, round 



° It is most probable that Rafinesque's Sambucus eerulea, two years older than Nuttall's 

 S. glauca, and based upon the Lewis and Clark reference to an " alder," with " pale sky 

 blue " berries, is the rightful name for this species. These explorers were in the region 

 now known to contain the common glaucous-berried elder, to which alone their short 

 but unmistakable description could have been applied. For the present, however, it seems 

 advisable to retain Nuttall's name. 



