STUDIES OF PLANT LIFE 
height of ten to fifteen feet in damp localities. The sweet 
nut is round and thick shelled, the involucral calyx. spread- 
ing at the tips and more open than in the former species. 
The foliage is round, somewhat cordate, or heart-shaped, 
coarsely pointed and serrated. The flowers, which are of 
two kinds in this genus, come successively before the unfold- 
ing of the leaves. The two species are very distinct in their 
appearance and character, the Beaked Hazelnut bearing 
more likeness to the Filbert, while the present species re- 
sembles the common Hazelnut. 
The classical name, Corylus, is derived from a Greek word 
signifying a helmet, from the shape of the calyx. 
RED-BERRIED ELDER—Sambucus pubens (Michx.). 
The red-fruited Elder is often confounded by ignorant 
persons with the Rhus Toxicodendron, to which the names 
of Poison Elder, Poison Oak, and Poison Ivy have been 
given, thus transferring the evil qualities of the poisonous 
Rhus to a perfectly harmless shrubby tree, which deserves 
to be redeemed from such slanders. The Red-berried Elder 
is widely distributed over the Dominion of Canada. 
In every waste place, on old neglected fallows which 
have been subjected to the ravages of fire, in corners of 
fences, and even in gardens, if care be not taken to ruth- 
lessly root out the intruder, this hardy native may be found. 
The panicles of greenish-white flowers may be seen in the 
month of May, among black and burnt stumps and girdled 
pines, enlivening the coarse verdure of the dull-green 
pinnated leaves and gray warty branches; the flowers of 
this species, as well as those of the Black-berried Elder, 
S. Canadensis (L.), emit a faint but sickly odor. The 
flowers of the latter species are whiter, borne in much larger 
and flatter cymes, and do not appear until June. 
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