1013 



&!)C CrcaSttrg of 2Sotauin 



[SAME 



four, much longer than the sepals ; sta- 

 mens eight, filaments attached below to a 

 hairy scale ; ovaries four or five on a short 

 stalk, each one-celled, one-seeded ; styles 

 separate below, above confluent, longer 

 than the petals. S. indica, a native of Tra- 

 vancore and Malabar, yields a bark which 

 is employed as a febrifuge. From the seeds 

 is procured an oil used in rheumatic affec- 

 tions. The bruised leaves are likewise em- 

 ployed in erysipelas. [M. T. MJ 



SAMAXKA DES IXDIEXS. 

 trullus vulgaris. 



(Ft.) Ci- 



SAMARA. A genus of Myrsinacece, dis- 

 tinguished in the order by the petals being 

 free and distinct as in Embelia, with the 

 stamens inserted at their base, but always 

 in fours, not in fives as in that genus ; and 

 j by the stamens being always longer than 

 I the petals. The habit is also different. 

 I There are very few species, natives of East- 

 ! ern Africa and tropical Asia, extending to 

 j Southern China. They are shrubs, often 

 i half-trailing, with entire evergreen leaves, 

 j and small flowers in very short axillary 

 I racemes. 



SAMARA. An indehiscent fruit, pro- 

 : during a membranous expansion or wing, 

 | from its back or end. 



\ SAMARIA-TVOOD. Idea altissima. 



! SAMAROID. Resembling a Samara. \ 



I SAMBO. Cleome. 



i SAMBUCrs. A genus of small trees 

 ! shrubs or more rarely herbs, belonging to 

 ; the Caprifoliacece. The characters are: Co- 

 rolla with a very short tube; berry three to 

 four-seeded ; leaves pinnate. S. nigra, the 

 Common Elder, is a well-known tree of 

 rapid growth when young, remarkable for j 



ly ornamental, with large oval clusters of 

 bright scarlet berries. French : Sureau ; 

 German : Eohlunder. [C. A. J.] 



Evelyn says, speaking of the Common 

 Elder :— ' If the medicinal properties of the 

 leaves, bark, berries, &c. were thoroughly 

 known, I cannot tell what our countrymen 

 could ail for which he might not fetch a 

 remedy from every hedge, either for sick- 

 ness or wound.' Aubray tells us that ' the 

 apothecaries well know the use of the 

 berries, and so do the vintners, who buy 

 vast quantities of them in London, and 

 some do make no inconsiderable profit by 

 the sale of them.' 



The Danewort, S. Ebulus, has purple 

 flowers, but the berries are so much like 

 those of the common elder as to be occa- 

 sionally used for the same purposes. In 

 accounting for its English name, Sir J. E. 

 Smith says : 'Our ancestors evinced a just 

 hatred of their brutal enemies the Danes, 

 in supposing the nauseous, fetid, and noxi- 

 ous plant before us to have sprung from 

 their blood.' But we cannot help thinking 

 that both kinds of Elder were not only 

 used medicinally, but were also held in 

 great superstitious reverence. Mr. Jones, 

 in his Notes on Certain Superstitions in the 

 Vale of Gloucester, cites the following, 

 which by the way is no unusual case: 

 ' Some men were employed in removing an 

 old hedgerow, partially formed of elder- 

 trees. They had bound up all the other 

 wood into faggots for burning, but had 

 set apart the elder, and enquired of their 

 master how it was to be disposed of. 

 Upon his saying that he should of course 

 burn it with the rest, and ordering it to be 

 faggoted, one of the men said, with an air 

 of undisguised alarm, that he never heard 

 of such a thing as burning Elian Wood; 

 and, in fact, so strongly did he feel upon the 



the stoutness of its shoots, which when a J subject, that he refused to participate in 

 year old are as large as those of many the act of tying it up.' The word Elian 

 other trees at two or three years of age. (still common with us) indicates the origin 

 They are covered with a smooth grey bark, of the superstition. In Low Saxon the Sam- 



grey 



, and contain an unusual proportion of pith, 

 which being easily removed, the branches 



J may readily be formed into tubes, and on 

 this account the Elder was formerly called 

 Bore-tree. The wood is white and of a fine 

 close grain, tough, fissile, and easily cut- 

 hence it is used for making skewers and 

 shoemakers' pegs. The leaves have an un- 

 pleasant odour when bruised, which is sup- 

 posed to be offensive to most insects, and a 

 decoction of them is sometimes employed 

 by gardeners to keep off caterpillars from 

 delicate plants. By village herbalists they 

 are employed in making a kind of oint- 

 ment, and the flowers serve for fomenta- 

 tions, or are made into a medicinal tea; 

 while the berries are the principal ingre- 

 dient in ' elderberry wine.' These are ge- 

 nerally purplish-black, but a variety occurs 

 with berries of a greenish-white hue. S. 

 Ebulus, ,or Danewort, is an herbaceous plant 

 found in many parts of Britain as well as 

 the Continent : it has a nauseous smell, and 

 drastic properties. S. racemosa, a native 

 of Central and Southern Europe, is a shrub _. 



! which towards the end of summer is high- 1 constantly about the person 



bucus nigra is called Ellhorn. Arnkiel 

 unsuspectingly relates, ' Our forefathers 

 also held the Ellhorn holy, wherefore who- 

 ever need to hew it down (or cut its 

 branches) has first to make request, " Lady 

 Ellhorn, give me some of thy wood, and I 

 will give thee some of mine when it grows 

 in the forest,"— the which with partly ben- 

 ded knees, bare head, and folded arms was 

 ordinarily done,' as I myself have often 

 seen and heard in my younger years.' 



There exist many superstitions respect- 

 ing elder-wands, elder-trees before stables, 

 the shedding of water under them, and 

 the elder-mother, a Danish superstition. 

 The attributed curative effects of elder are 

 well known. Its flowers are an eyewash 

 and cosmetic, and its bark and leaves are 

 used for various purposes, but the most 

 curious use is that which has been recorded 

 by Mr. Jones on the authority of Lord 

 Ducie :— 'A small piece cut from a young 

 shoot just above and below a joint, so as to 

 leave the bud projecting at each end of it 

 after the fashion of a rude cross, borne 

 most 



