T22 
WAYSIDE AND WOODLAND TREES. 
The cyme or flower-head is more rounded, and whilst the 
mass of flowers are of the same size (a quarter of an inch) 
as those of the Wayfaring-tree, those in the outer row are 
three times the size — but they are entirely without stamens 
or pistil ! It would appear that in order to make the flower- 
cluster more conspicuous, and thus attract insects, the material 
that should have gone to furnish these organs has been used up 
in the broader and whiter corolla. The inner and perfect flowers 
are creamy-white, bell-shaped, and they secrete honey. Both 
stamens and stigma mature simultaneously. The fruits are 
almost round, and of a clear, translucent red. Respecting these 
fruits, we cannot forbear from quoting a remark of Hamerton’s. 
He says, writing as the French recorder of the Sylvan Year: 
“For any one who enjoys the sight of red berries in the most 
jewel-like splendour, there is nothing in winter like the Viburnum, 
the species we call Viorne abler ^ and if you meet with a fine 
specimen just when it is caught by the level rays of a crimson 
sunset, you will behold a shrub that seems to have come from 
that garden of Aladdin where the fruit of the trees were jewels.” 
These fruits, though enticing to the sight, and juicy, are nauseous 
to the taste. 
The name Guelder Rose is a strange case of transference 
from a cultivated to a wild plant : the var. sterilis, in which all 
the flowers are like the outer row in the normal cluster, was first 
cultivated in Gelderland ; so Gerarde tells us that “ it is called 
in Dutch, Gheldersche Roose ; in English, Gelder’s Rose." In 
the Cotswolds it is known as King’s Crown, from the “ King of 
the May” having been crowned with a chaplet of it. Another 
name for it is Water Elder, presumably given on account of 
the similar appearance of the flower-clusters in Viburnum and 
Sambucus. 
The distribution of the Guelder Rose as a wild plant extends 
northwards to Caithness, although it is rare in Scotland. It 
occurs throughout Ireland. 
