Elder, Dwarf. American
Where To Found It: New England to Virginia.
A perennial, stem 1 to 2 feet high, lower part woody and shrubby,
beset with sharp bristles, upper part leafy and branching. Leaflets
oblongovate, acute serrate, leaves bipinnate, many simple umbels,
globose, axillary and terminal on long peduncles, has bunches of
dark-coloured nauseous berries, flowers June to September. The whole
plant smells unpleasantly. Fruit, black, round, one-celled, has
three irregular-shaped seeds. The bark is used medicinally, but
the root is the more active.
Modern uses: Sudorific in warm infusion
- bark diuretic and alterative and has a special action on kidneys.
Most valuable in urinary diseases, dropsy, gravel, suppression of
urine, etc. A decoction of the fresh roots and juice are efficacious
in dropsy, being a good hydragogue and also an emetic.
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