PENTANDRIA. TRIGYNIA. Sambucus. 401 
hitherto been remarked in the county of Devon; but in the autumn of 
1827, we observed what we have little hesitation in announcing as this 
plant by the side of the new road from Shaldon to Mary Church, a few 
hundred yards only from the latter place, and still nearer to the guide 
post; where likewise grows Itumex acutus, var. sanguineus. E.) 
S. July.* 
S. ni'gra. Tufts with five divisions : leaves winged: leafits seldom 
more than two or three pair, nearly egg-shaped, serrated: stem 
ligneous. 
(E. Bot. 476. E.)—Fl. Dan. 545— Blackw. 151 —Woodv. 78— Matth. 1268— 
Ger. 1234— Fuchs. 64— Ger. Em. 1422. 1— Dad. 845. 1— Ger. Em. 1422. 
2 —Park. 208. 8 — Trag. 997— J. B. I a. 544. 
(A bushy strong-smelling tree, with branches opposite, containing light 
white pith; the young shoots green, tall and straight, growing rapidly. 
Flowers numerous, forming large cream-coloured cymes, and emitting a 
sickly scent. E.) Berries green, at length blackish purple, with juice of 
the same colour. Anthers yellow, arrow-shaped, one on each filament. 
Common Elder. (In Scotland and other parts called Bore-tree, from its 
large pith, which, being easily driven out, makes it like a bored pipe. 
Irish: Crann tromain. Welsh: Ysgawlwyn cyffredin. Gaelic: An drurnan. 
E.) Woods and damp hedges. (It is often bird-sown, or self-planted 
on walls, lofty towers, or the trunks of decayed trees. E.) S. April—May.f 
* Has the same medicinal properties with S. nigra, butin some respects more violent, and 
therefore less manageable. A dram and a half of the root is a strong cathartic. The 
berries give out a violet colour (and are used to dye blue. E.) The green leaves drive 
away mice from granaries, and moles 'as do those likewise of the Common Elder), from their 
usual haunts ; and the Silesians strew them where their pigs lie, under a persuasion that 
they prevent some of the diseases to which those animals are liable. Neither cows, goats, sheep, 
horses, or swine eat it. (The drastic effects may be mitigated by continued coction, ac¬ 
cording to Fernelius ; but Salisbury well remarks that these are “ too churlish medicines 
for general use.” Martin Blockwitz composed a volume upon its virtues, entitled Anatomia 
Sambitci. Boiled and reduced to powder the plant is used advantageously for scouring 
metallic vessels. E.) 
+ The whole plant has a narcotic smell; (nor is it prudent to sleep under its shade, not¬ 
withstanding the injunction of Thomson for such recreation to 
“ Seek the bank where flowering Elders crowd.” 
Evelyn adduces an instance of a dwelling in Spain which was rendered uninhabitable by 
the proximity of such trees. The wine prepared from the berries will be acceptable to 
invalids, however it may be despised by the legitimate sons of Bacchus. Elder-flower water is 
frequently used as a cooling lotion ; and an infusion of the flowers is considered by the 
Russians diaphoretic, and tending to dispel inflammatory disorders. E.) The wood is hard, 
tough, and yellow. It is commonly made into skewers for butchers, tops for angling rods, 
and needles for weaving nets. It is not a bad wood to turn in the lathe. (The dried 
flowers make a debilitating tea, not to be persisted in. An infusion of the leaves destroys in¬ 
sects on delicate plants, almost as effectually as tobacco water. E.) The inner green leaves and 
bark are purgative, and may be used with advantage where drastics are requisite. In 
smaller doses they are diuretic, and have been eminently serviceable in obstinate glandular 
obstructions, and in dropsies. If sheep affected with the rot be placed in a situation where 
they can get at the bark and young shoots, they will soon cure themselves. It is an ingre¬ 
dient in the black dye. The leaves are admitted into several cooling ointments. If turnips, 
cabbages, fruit trees, &c. (which are subject to blight from a variety of insects,) be 
whipped with the green leaves and branches of Elder, insects will not attack them. Phil. Tr. 
v. 62. p. 348. A decoction of the flowers, taken internally, is said to promote expectoration 
in pleurisies. Externally, when dried, they are used in fomentations to ease pain and abate in¬ 
flammation. They are likewise useful to give a flavour to vinegar. They are fatal to turkies. A 
rob prepared from the berries is a gentle aperient, and promotes perspiration. The juice of 
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