1LY2S 



ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. 



PART III. 



'* 



Spec. Char., Sc. Arboreous. Leaves pinnate. 

 Leaflets usually 5, smooth, deep green, ovate or 

 oblong-oval, acuminated ; the lower leaves some- 

 times trifoliolate. Cymes with 5 main branches. 

 Branches, after a year's growth, clothed with 

 smooth grey bark, and filled with a light spongy 

 pith. Flowers cream-coloured, with a sweet but 

 taint smell. Berries globular, purplish black. «jp 

 Stalks reddish. (Don's Mill., iii. p. 437.) A low 

 tree, in a wild state, growing from 20ft. to 30 ft. 

 high, and flowering in June. A native of Europe, 

 and part of Asia, in hedges, coppices, and woods; 

 and plentiful in Britain, in like situations, but probably not truly indigenous. 

 The varieties are rare, except in gardens. 



Varieties. 



£ S. n. 2 virescens Dec. Prod., iv. p. 322.; S. virescens Desf. Arbr. Fr.'x. 



p. 348. — Fruit yellowish green. 

 ± S. n. 3 leucocdrpa. — Fruit white. 

 $ S. «. 4 laciniaja; S. laciniata Mill. D?"c/.,No. 2.; (Lob. Icon., 2. t. 164. 



f. 2. ; and our fig. 774.) the Parsley-leaved Elder ; has the leaflets cut 



into fine segments. 

 ¥ S. n. 5 rotund folia. — Leaves trifoliolate. Leaflets petiolate, roundish, 



serrated. Corymbs few-flowered. Cultivated in the Chelsea Garden. 



775 



^ 



*t S. n. 6 monstrbsa,S. monstrdsa Hort., has the branches striped. Flowers 

 of from 5 — 15 parts ; and with from 5 — 15 stamens. Stigmas 5 — 12. 

 Berries irregular. 

 ¥ S. n. 7 foliis argenteis (fig. 775.) has the leaves variegated with white, 



and forms a striking and lively-looking plant in a shrubbery. 

 J S. n. 8 foliis lutcis, has the leaves slightly variegated with yellow. 

 Description, Geography, Sfc. The common elder forms a small tree, re- 

 markable for its vigorous growth when young, and its stationary character 

 after it has attained 20 or 30 years' growth, and as many feet high. Its ample 

 cymes of cream-coloured flowers make a fine show in June, and its purplish 

 black berries in September. It is observed by Sir J. E. Smith, that "our 

 uncertain summer is established by the time the elder is in full flower; and 

 entirely gone when its berries are ripe." It is a native of Europe, the north 

 of Africa, and the colder parts of Asia, but not of America; and it is chiefly 

 near human habitations. I)r. Walker, in 1780, thinks it is not indigenous in 

 Scotland, and even that it had not been long introduced there ; because he 

 knew no instances of very old trees. It is common in all parts of Eng- 

 land, in the neighbourhood of houses and gardens ; and also in the woods 

 of the temperate and southern parts of Russia. It is frequent in Greece, 



