ON SOME ODD BERRIES 



As to the other berry-producing tree just men- 

 tioned, the elder, the possibilities of fruit devel- 

 opment are even more inviting. 



The common European elder, Sambucus nigra, 

 has developed into a number of handsome orna- 

 mental varieties, most of which are offered by the 

 American nurserymen. Our native eastern species, 

 the Sambucus Canadensis, the cbmmen elder of 

 the eastern United States, has also developed sev- 

 eral forms; and there is a California species, S. 

 glauca, that shows a like tendency to variation, 

 both as to size of tree and size and quality of fruit. 



The berries of the elder are borne in large 

 clusters, sometimes in enormous profusion, so 

 that the bushes fairly break under their weight. 

 The fruit is generally bluish black, with a very 

 thick white bloom. 



A curious anomaly is sometimes shown by an- 

 other European or Asiatic species, S. racemosa, a 

 variety of which grows in various parts of north- 

 ern California and northward along the Pacific 

 coast. This sometimes makes a large, rambling, 

 tree-like bush, and the singularity in question 

 consists in the fact that some of the bushes bear 

 berries of a brilliant yellow color and others red- 

 dish purple or almost black berries. 



The bushes intermingle almost indiscrim- 

 inately, yet there is no intermingling of the differ- 



[175] 



