GUELDER

ROSE  , so called from Guelderland, its supposed source, termed also marsh elder, rose elder, water elder (Ger . Wasserholder, Schneeball; Fr. viorne-obier, l'obier d'Europe), known botanically as Viburnum Opulus, a shrub or small tree of the natural order Caprifoliaceae, a native of Britain, and widely distributed in the temperate and colder parts of Europe, Asia and North America . It is common in Ireland, but rare in Scotland . In height it is from 6 to 12 ft., and it thrives best in moist situations . The leaves are smooth, 2 to 3 in. broad, with 3 to 5 unequal serrate lobes, and glandular stipules adnate to the stalk . In autumn the leaves change their normal bright green for a pink or crimson hue . The flowers, which appear in June and July, are small, white, and arranged in cymes 2 to 4 in. in diameter . The outer blossoms in the wild plant have an enlarged corolla, 4 in. in diameter, and are devoid of stamens or pistils; in the common cultivated variety all the flowers are sterile and the inflorescence is globular, hence the term " snow-ball tree " applied to the plant, the appearance of which at the time of flowering has been prettily described by Cowper in his Winter Walk at Noon . The guelder rose bears juicy, red, elliptical berries, a in. long, which ripen in September, and contain each a single compressed seed . In northern Europe these are eaten, and in Siberia, after fermentation with flour, they are distilled for spirit . The plant has, however, emetic, purgative and narcotic properties; and Taylor (Med . Jurisp. i .

448, 2nd ed., 1873) has recorded an instance of the fatal poisoning of a

child by the berries . Both they and the bark contain valerianic acid . The woody shoots of the guelder rose are manufactured into various small articles in Sweden and Russia . Another member of the genus, Viburnum, Lantana, wayfaring tree, is found in dry copses and hedges in England, except in the north .