162 



WEEDS AND USEFUL PLANTS. 



4. SAMBU'CUS, Tournef. Elder. 



[Greek, Sambuke, a musical instrument ; said to have been made of this shrub.] 



Calyx with the segmeots minute. Corolla urn-shaped, with a broadly 

 spreading 5-cleft limb. Fruit sub-globose, baccate ; nucules 3, (rarely 5,) 

 crustaceous, rugulose, each containing a suspended seed. Shrubs or 

 perennial kerbs. Leaves odd-pinnately dissected. Inflorescence cymose 

 or thyrsoid. 



1, S. Canaden'sis, L. Stem sufFruticose ; leaflets oblong-oval, acumi- 

 nate, serrate ; flowers in 5-parted spreading cymes. 

 Canadian Sambucus. Elderbush. Common Elder, 



stem 5-8 or 10 feet high, finally shrubby, filled with a large pith, branching, nodose — 

 the young branches tumid at the nodes. Leaflets usually in 3 pairs with a terminal odd 

 one, 2-4 inches long, petiolulate. Cymes broad, terminating young branches, on pedun- 

 cles 4-6 inches long. Corolla white. Berries numerous, small, juicy, dark purple or 

 nearly black when mature. 



Thickets and fence rows : throughout the United States. Fl. June. I)-. August. 



Obs. This is a rather troublesome plant, on our farms, — the long roots 

 being very tenacious of life, and inclined to spread extensively along 

 fence-rows and hedges. If neglected, it soon gives the farm a very 

 slovenly appearance. 



This species is considered by some botanists as a mere variety of the 

 European S. nigra, which it certainly closely resembles. Like that spe- 

 cies, it is considerably employed in domestic medicine. An infusion of 

 its flowers, Elderblow-tea, is a harmless and eSicient diaphoretic, and 

 the juice of the berries makes a tolerable wine. The bark is said to act 

 as a purgative and emetic, 



5, YIBUR'NUM, L. Viburnum. 



[A classical Latin name ; et3'mology obscure.] 



Ca/j/a; 5-toothed, Corolla spreading, deejDly 5-lobed. Fruit a 1 -celled 

 1-seeded drupe, with a scanty pulp and a crustaceous more or less flatten- 

 ed nut. Shr-ubs; leaves simple, petiolate ; petioles sometimes bearing lit- 

 tle appendage-like stipules. Flowers usually white, in flat compound 

 mostly terminal cymes. 



* Flowers all alike and perfect. 



1. V. Lenta'gO, L- Leaves lance-ovate, acuminate, sharply-serrate; 

 petioles with wavy margins ; cymes sessile, somewhat corymbose, termi- 

 nal ; drupes oval, slightly compressed. 

 Sweet Viburnum. Sheep-berry. 



A tree 15 - 20 feet high. Petioles )4 an inch to an inch long, the undulate margin dotted 

 with brown scales when young. Leaves 2-4 inches long. Drupes often half an inch long, 

 ripe in October, changing from a rich scarlet to a bluish black with a glaucous bloom— 

 sdible especially after having b(;en frozen. 



Canada to Georgia. May -June. 



