Engravings. N. Du Ham., 1. t. 55. ; Eng. Bot., t. 476. ; the plate of this species in Arb. Brit,
1st edit., vol. vi. ; and oaxjigs. 950. and 931.
Spec. Char., 4^. Arboreous. Leaves pinnate,
Leaflets usually 5, smooth, deep green, ovate or V
oblong-oval, acuminated ; the lower leaves sometimes
trifoliolate. Cymes with 5 main branches.
Branches, after a year’s growth, clothed with
smooth grey bark, and filled with a light spongy
pith. Flowers cream-coloured, with a sweet but / <
faint smell. Berries globular, purplish black. -4^-
Stalks reddish. (Doris Mill.) A low tree. E u rope,
and part of Asia, in hedges, coppices, ancl
woods ; and plentiful in Britain, in like situations.
Height 20 ft. to 30 ft. Flowers cream-coloured ;
June. Berries purplish black; ripe in September.
Decaying leaves yellowish green. Naked young wood whitish green.
('^aiieties.
X S. n. 2 viréscens Dec. Prod. iv. p .322. ; S. viréscens Desf. Arbr. Fr.\.
p. 348. — Fruit yellowish green.
X S. n. 3 leucocarpa. — Fruit white.
X S.n. 4ilacìniàta\ laciniàta Dici. No. 2. (Lob. Icon., 2. t. 164.
f. 2. ; and our fg .
^ ^32) ; tlie Parsleyleavecl
Elder; has the
leaflets cut into fine
segments. The handsomest
of all the varieties.
932. S. n. lacjnlhta.
X s. n. 5 rotundifòlia. — Leaves trifoliolate. Leaflets petiolate, roundish,
serrated. Corymbs few-flowered. Cultivated in the Chelsea Garden.
X S. n. 6 monstròsa, S. monstròsa Hort., has the branches striped.
Flowers of from 5—15 parts; ancl with from 5— 15 stamens. Stigmas
5—12. Berries irregular.
X S. n. 1 fòiiis argénfeis ( f g . 933.) has the leaves variegated with white,
and forms a striking and lively-looking plant in a shrubbery.
X S. n, 8 foliis lùteis has the leaves slightly variegated with yellow.
The elder is cultivated in some parts of Kent for its fruit, which is much
in demand for making elder wine. The flowers and bark are much used by
herbalists ; and the wood of old trunks, being very hard, is used as a substitute
for that of box and dogwood. The young shoots, having large pith, are
made into pop-giins, and the pith is used by electricians in various experiments.
The plant, both in B ritain and on the Continent, is sometimes used for forming
hedges, and also as a nurse plant for plantations exposed to the sea breeze.
In the latter capacity, it has the great advantage of growing rapidly the first
five or six years, and afterwards of being easily choked by the trees it has
nursed up. The elder will not thrive except in a good soil, kept somewhat
moist; and it will not flower and fruit abundantly, unless the situation be
open, and fully exposed to the light and air. The plant roots so readily from
cuttings and truncheons, that, where the soil is tolerably moist, a plantation
or a hedge may be made at once, by the use of the latter, instead of employing
rooted plants.
afe 2. S. c a n a d e ' n s i s L. The Canadian Elder.
Idenificatmu Lin. Sp., 385. ; Don’s Mill., 3. p. 436.
Engravings. Schmidt Baum., 2. t. 142. ; and our fig. 934.
Spec. Char., 4c. Frutescent. Leaves
pinnate or siib-pinnate. Leaflets
about 4 pairs, and an odd one ;
oblong, oval, stiffish, acuminated,
more or less, pubescent beneath,
sometimes appendiculated at the
base. Cymes of 5 main branches.
Flowers almost scentless. Berries
deep bluish black. (Don's Mill.) A
shrub, nearly suffruticose. Canada to
Carolina, in swamps and near hedges.
Height 4 ft. to 6 ft. Introduced in
1761. Flowers white; July and
August. Fruit bluish black ; ripe in
September.
A bush, in foliage resembling the
common elder, but it is less hardy, and,
in Britain at least, never assumes any
thing of a tree character.
B. Leave.<! pinnate. Flowers panicled.
^ 3. S. RACEMo'sA L. The v?iC.e.mos%-flowered Elder.
Identification. Lin. Sp., 386. ; Don’s Mill., 3. p. 438.
Smonymes. S. montàna Cam. Epit. 976. ; S. cervini Tabern. 1029. ; Sambuco montana, Hal.
Engravings. Jacq. Icon. Rar., 1. p. 59.; N. D u Ham., 1. t. 56. ; and our^^-. 935.
Spec. Char., 4c. Shrubby. Leaves pinnate.
Leaflets 5, membranous, oblong, acuminated,
serrated, unequal at the base.
Petioles glabrous. Panicle ovate. Leaves
pale green, pretty smooth. (Doris Mill.)
A low tree or large shrub. Middle and
South of Europe and Siberia, on mountains.
Height 10 ft, to 12 ft. Introduced
in 1596. Flowers whitish green ; April
and May. Fruit scai’Iet ; ripe in August.
934. S. canadéni
áfe S. r. 2 laciniàta Koch in Dec. Fl. Fr,
Supp. p. 3000. — Leaflets jagged.
A native of the Palatinate of the f,
Rhine.
This tree has a splendid appearance
when covered with its panicles of fine,
large, scarlet fruit, which resemble miniature
bunches of gra[)es of the most brilliant
scarlet. Its large leaves, with their deeply serrated pinnm, are also
very ornamental. It grows as freely as the common elder, and deserves a
place in every collection ; though it is very seldom found, in British gardens,
of such a size as to display its beauty. We should think it would succeed if
budded on the common elder ; and, as that species is abundant in many places,
L L 2
935. S. r.icemòsa.