Elder

elder or elderberry: see honeysuckle.

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elder

European red elder (Sambucus racemosa).

(credit: A.J. Huxley)

Any of about 20–30 species, mainly shrubs and small trees, that make up the genus Sambucus, in the honeysuckle family. Most are native to forested temperate or subtropical areas. Elders are important as garden shrubs, as forest plants, and for their berries (elderberries), which provide food for wildlife and are used for wines, jellies, pies, and folk medicines. Elders have divided leaves and flat, roundish clusters of tiny, yellowish-white, saucer-shaped flowers. The American, or sweet, elder (S. canadensis) of North America is the most important species horticulturally.

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elder¹

1. (in piquet and similar card games) denoting or relating to the nondealer (the elder hand), who has certain advantages in the play

2. Anthropol a senior member of a tribe who has influence or authority

3. (in certain Protestant Churches) a lay office having teaching, pastoral, or administrative functions

4. another word for presbyter

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elder²

1. any of various caprifoliaceous shrubs or small trees of the genus Sambucus, having clusters of small white flowers and red, purple, or black berry-like fruits

2. any of various unrelated plants, such as box elder and marsh elder

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Elder

Mark Philip. born 1947, British conductor; musical director of the English National Opera (1979--93) and of the Hall? Orchestra from 2000

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Elder 

(Sambucus), a genus of plants of the honeysuckle family. They are shrubs or small trees; more rarely, perennial grasses. There are about 40 species in the temperate and subtropical regions of both hemispheres.

There are 11 species in the USSR, three of which are widely distributed. The black elder (S. nigra) is a tall shrub or small tree with creamy white tiny flowers in flat umbelliferous panicles and violet black fruits (berry-like stones). They are found in the underbrush of the European part of the USSR (including the Crimea) and in the Caucasus. The flowers and fruits of the black elder are good for coloring wines and for giving them a muscat taste. They are raised as decorative plants.

Cystiform, red or common elder (S. racemosa) is a strongly branched shrub or small tree. Its whitish or greenish yellow flowers are arranged in flat oval or conic inflorescences. The fruit is bright red. Wild red elders are found in the underbrush of coniferous and mixed forests in the western Ukraine; red elder that has gone wild is found in the Baltic region and in certain oblasts of the central belt of the European part of the USSR, as well as in Ciscaucasia. These elder are raised as decorative plants. Grass elder (S. ebulus) is a perennial grassy plant, 0.5 to 1.5 cm tall, with an unpleasant smell. In the belt of broad-leaf forests, in the forest-steppe, and in the mountains, the grass is found to the central belt. It is also found everywhere in the Ukraine and in certain oblasts of the central belt of Russia, as well as in the Caucasus. In Central Asia it is found in the mountains of Kopetdag. Infusions of black elder and grass elder are used as sudorifics, diuretics, and astringents. They can also be used as a gargle and poultice.

REFERENCES

Atlas lekarstvennykh rastenii SSSR. Moscow, 1962.

M. E. KIRPICHNIKOV