ELDER

a name given to different species of the genus Sambiicus, nat. ord. Caprifoliacese. These are small trees or shrubs, with opposite and pinnated leaves, bearing small white 96 ELDERS flowers in large and conspicuous corymbs, small berries of a black or red colour, and bitter and nauseous leaves po e ing purgative and emetic properties. The wood of the young shoots contains a very large proportion of pith. The common elder of Britain (S. nigra) is a wild shrub or small tree, distinguishable by its winged leaves, its clusters of small, cream-white flowers, and the small black berries by which these are succeeded, and from which a kind of wine is sometimes made. The dwarf elder or danewort (S. Hbulus) is also found in many parts of Britain, and was popularly supposed to have sprung from the blood of the Danes. Two species inhabit North America: S. can a dens is, a common plant from the 49th to the 39th parallel of latitude, the berries of which are black and have a sweet taste, and S. pubescens, which bears red berries, and inhabits Canada, the northern parts of New England, and the Alleghany Mountains. Elder wood is yellow, and in old trees becomes so hard that it is often substituted for box-wood. Its toughne , also, is such that it is made into Skewers and tops for fishing-rods. The light pith is utilized for balls for eleetric experiments, and various ointments, drinks, and medicinal decoctions are made from the bark, leaves, flowers, and berries.