A vocabulary of landscape — a landscape of words
1367 entries
elder
The elder is a fast-growing small tree or large shrub of hedges, waste ground, and old farmyards, with soft brittle wood, a pith-filled center, flat creamy flower heads in early summer, and hanging clusters of small black fruit in autumn. It grows wherever soil has been enriched, so it follows people, livestock, and rabbit warrens, and it is one of the first woody plants into disturbed ground.
Etymology
The tree word is Old English and has nothing to do with elder meaning an older person, which comes from old. They arrived at the same spelling by accident and have confused readers ever since. The Latin name, Sambucus, is thought to come from the name of an ancient stringed instrument, on the theory that the hollow stems were used to make something musical. Hollow elder stems have certainly been used for pipes, whistles, and bellows nozzles.
Notes
Elder carries more folklore than almost any other European tree. The Elder Mother was said to live in it, and permission was traditionally asked before cutting, with the axe left unswung if she refused. It was planted by dairies and privies because the smell of the leaves keeps flies off. Both the flowers and the ripe fruit have been used in drinks for centuries.