elderberry

elderberry, (genus Sambucus), genus of about 10 species of shrubs and small trees in the family Adoxaceae. Most are native to forested temperate or subtropical areas of both the Northern and Southern hemispheres. They are important as garden shrubs, as forest plants, and for their berries, which provide food for wildlife and are used for wines, jellies, pies, and medicines.

Physical description

Elderberry plants are deciduous and are commonly many-trunked shrubs or small trees. The pinnately compound leaves are borne oppositely along the stems and have toothed leaflets. The plants produce flat to roundish clusters of tiny yellowish white saucer-shaped flowers that are followed by small red, blue-black, black, or yellow berries. Elderberries can readily become naturalized in an area, and some are considered invasive species outside their native range.

Major species and uses

Black, or common, elderberry (Sambucus nigra), of Eurasia and North America, is the most important species horticulturally (its taxonomy is contentious, and the species is sometimes divided between a Eurasian S. nigra and a North American S. canadensis). The fruit is sometimes collected from wild trees, but a number of cultivated varieties have been developed for home and commercial use. The berries may be mixed with grapes for jelly or combined with apples as a pie filling. In some areas the juice is traditionally fermented into wine. The unopened flower buds are sometimes pickled as a substitute for capers, and the flowers themselves are made into a flavouring syrup. In folk medicine, elderberry has been touted as a remedy for stomach upsets, as an eye lotion, as a salve for bruises, and as a diuretic.

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Plants: From Cute to Carnivorous

Other species of elderberry include the blue, or Mexican, elder (S. caerulea), which grows to 15 metres (48 feet) and has deep blue or purple fruits; it is found in western North America. European red elder (S. racemosa), native from northern Europe to North China, has round clusters of scarlet berries and reaches 4 metres (13 feet) in height. Red-berried, or American red, elder (S. pubens), with dark pith, is a similar North American species. Danewort, or dwarf, elderberry (S. ebulus), widespread in Eurasia and North Africa, is a perennial with annually herbaceous growth to 1 metre (3 feet). Its clusters of black berries were once a source of dye.