elder, in botany: A genus of the trigynia order, belonging to the pentandria clas of plants, and in the natural method ranking under the The calyx is quinquepartite; the corolla quinquefid; the berry trisperous.

The most remarkable species are, 1. The nigra, or common black elder-tree, rises with a tree-stem, branching numerously into a large spreading head, twenty or thirty feet high; pinnate leaves, of two or three pairs of oval lobes and an odd one; and large five-parted umbels of white flowers towards the ends of the branches, succeeded by bunches of black and other different coloured berries, in the varieties; which are—Common black-berried elder-tree—White-berried elder—Green-berried elder—Laciniate, or parsley-leaved elder, having the folioles much laciniate, so as to resemble parsley leaves—Gold-flushed-leaved elder—Silver-striped elder—Silver-dufted elder. 2. The racemoso, race-mofo red-berried elder, rises with a tree-like stem, branching ten or twelve feet high, having reddish-brown branches and buds; pinnate leaves of six or seven oval deeply-fawed lobes; and compound, oval, racemose, clusters of whitish-green flowers, succeeded by oval clusters of red berries. This is a resident of the mountainous parts of the south of Europe, and is retained in our gardens as a flowering shrub, having a peculiar singularity in its oval-clustered flowers and berries. 3. The Canadensis, or Canada shrubby elder, rises with a shrubby stem, branching eight or ten feet high, having reddish shoots; somewhat bipinnate leaves, often ternate below, the other composed of five, seven, or nine oval lobes; and towards the ends of the branches, cymose quinquepartite umbels of flowers, succeeded by blackish red berries. All the sorts of elder are of the deciduous tribe, very hardy, and grow freely anywhere; are generally free shooters, but particularly the common elder and varieties, which make remarkably strong, jointed shoots, of several feet in length, in one season; and they flower mostly in summer, except the racemoso elder, which generally begins flowering in April; and the branches being large, spreading, and very abundant, are exceedingly conspicuous; but they emit a most disagreeable odour. The flowers are succeeded in the most of the sorts by large bunches of ripe berries in autumn, which, although very unpalatable to eat, are in high estimation for making that well known cordial liquor called elder wine, particularly the common black-berried elder. The merit of the elder in gardening may be both for use and ornament, especially in large grounds.