ELDER. 



SAMBUCUS. 



CAl-IlIFOLIACE^. PENTANDllIA TRIGYNIA, 



French, sureau ; Italian, sambuco. 



The common Elder, Sambucus oiigra^ is a bushy tree, 

 growing to a height of about sixteen feet, much branched, 

 and covered with a smooth grey bark when young, which 

 afterwards becomes rough on the trunk and older 

 branches. The flowers are of a mellow creamy white, 

 with a faint sweet smell, especially when di'ied ; the 

 berries are globular, dark purple, mawkishly sweet ; their 

 juice watery and red. The wood is hard and tough, 

 and will take nearly as good a polish as box. 



This tree is a native of Britain, and many other parts 

 of Europe, of Africa, of Japan, &c. In this country it 

 grows abundantly in damp hedges and woods ; flowering 

 in May and June. 



The whole plant has a narcotic smell, and it is not pru- 

 dent to sleep under its shade, notwithstanding Thomson's 

 recommendation : 



" — - — ^ When the sun 



Shakes from his noon-day throne the scattering clouds^ 



E'en shooting listless languor through the deeps^ 



Then seek the bank where flowering elders crowd ; 



Where, scattered wild, the lily of the vale 



Its balmy essence breathes, where cowslips hang 



The dewy head, where purple violtts lurk^ 



iv^ith ail ihe lowly children of the shade/' 



