RUBIACEAE • 317 



RUBIACEAE. Madder Family. 

 A large family, mostly herbs in temperate regions and woody 

 plants in the tropics. Includes a few species of great economic im- 

 portance, such as coffee and quinine; also several furnishing other 

 medicines or dyes, and many ornamental plants. 

 CEPHALANTHUS, Linnaeus. 

 Cephalanthus occidentalis, L. 



Button-Bush. Elbow Bush. Globe-Flower. 



A crooked shrub or occasionally tree-like, with opposite or 

 whorled deciduous leaves, and spherical heads of white flowers in 

 summer. Recommended for cultivation in damp grounds. The 

 bark, especially of the root, has some medicinal properties, but it 

 is not officinal. 



Grows in ponds and sloughs and on banks of streams, where 

 the soil is moderately fertile and the water fluctuates a few feet 

 with the seasons. Widely scattered over the state. Observed in 

 every region except 4, 6B, and lOE. and there is no imaginable 

 reason why it should not grow in the last-named. It is probably 

 commonest in the Coosa Valley. 



CAPRIFOLIACEAE. Honeysuckle Family. 



Includes about 11 genera and 350 species, mostly shrubs or 

 vines, chiefly confined to the north temperate zone. 



SAMBUCUS, Linnaeus. The Elders. 

 Sambucus Canadensis, L. (Common) Elder. 



A well-known shrub with thick but weak and pithy stems, 

 compound deciduous leaves (which come out very early in the 

 spring), and large flat clusters of small cream-colored flowers in 

 early summer. 



Offered for sale by nurserymen for ornamental purposes. 

 The stems are sometimes made into pop-guns, etc., by small boys. 

 The flowers furnish honey, and can also be fried in batter and 

 eaten, with the stem of the flower-cluster for a handle. The ber- 

 ries are not very good raw, but make good preserves and jelly, 

 especially if mixed with other kinds. The bark, flowers and fruit 

 are medicinal, but not officinal. 



Grows in damp rich soils ; usually a weed, especially along 

 branches and ditches through fields ; but probably native in some 

 swamps and alluvial bottoms. Observed in every region except 

 2A, 4, 12, 14 and 15. Apparently commonest in the Coosa Valley. 



