What is "dwarf elder"

Dwarf \Dwarf\, n.; pl. Dwarfs. [OE. dwergh, dwerf, dwarf, AS. dweorg, dweorh; akin to D. dwerg, MHG. twerc, G. zwerg, Icel. dvergr, Sw. & Dan. dverg; of unknown origin.]

1. An animal or plant which is much below the ordinary size of its species or kind.

2. Especially: A diminutive human being, small in stature due to a pathological condition which causes a distortion of the proportions of body parts to each other, such as the limbs, torso, and head. A person of unusually small height who has normal body proportions is usually called a midget.

   Note: During the Middle Ages dwarfs as well as fools shared the favor of courts and the nobility.

3. (Folklore) A small, usually misshapen person, typically a man, who may have magical powers; mythical dwarves were often depicted as living underground in caves.

   Note: Dwarf is used adjectively in reference to anything much below the usual or normal size; as, a dwarf pear tree; dwarf honeysuckle.

   Dwarf elder (Bot.), danewort.

   Dwarf wall (Arch.), a low wall, not as high as the story of a building, often used as a garden wall or fence.
   --Gwilt.

Elder \El"der\, n. [OE. ellern, eller, AS. ellen, cf. LG. elloorn; perh. akin to OHG. holantar, holuntar, G. holunder; or perh. to E. alder, n.] (Bot.) A genus of shrubs ( Sambucus) having broad umbels of white flowers, and small black or red berries.

Note: The common North American species is Sambucus Canadensis; the common European species ( S. nigra) forms a small tree. The red-berried elder is S. pubens. The berries are diaphoretic and aperient. The European elder ( Sambucus nigra) is also called the elderberry, bourtree, Old World elder, black elder, and common elder.

Box elder. See under 1st Box.

Dwarf elder. See Danewort.

Elder tree. (Bot.) Same as Elder.
--Shak.

Marsh elder, the cranberry tree Viburnum Opulus).

n. A small European herbaceous perennial species of elder.

1. n. dwarf herbaceous elder of Europe having pink flowers and a nauseous odor [syn: danewort, Sambucus ebulus]

2. bristly herb of eastern and central North America having black fruit and medicinal bark [syn: bristly sarsaparilla, bristly sarsparilla, Aralia hispida]