48. 
THE ELDER. 
Sambucus nigra. 
Puate 5, Fia. 15. 
<1, NOWN all the world over for its 
Ag 
medicinal properties, the Elder 
can claim regard—from those 
who are not content to form 
NS opinions at second-hand, and will 
NN take the trouble to read Nature 
4 ae 
| for themselves—for its beauty of leaf, its 
is? ' wealth of blossom, and its harvest of 
al purple fruit. In size it can poorly com- 
pete with the Trees of the forest, and, though 
reaching a height sometimes of thirty feet, it is 
most familiar to us as a large shrub rather than 
asa Tree. It loves best a moist, rich soil, with 
