Brewer's: Guelder Rose

is the Rose de Gueldre, i.e. of the ancient province of Guelder or Guelderland, in Holland. But Smith, in his English Flora, says it is a corruption of Elder Rose, that is, the Rose Elder, the tree being considered a species of Elder, and hence called the “Water Elder.”

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
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