Sambucus glauca

Nutt.

Blue-berried elder

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(c) Matthew Zlatunich, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

What to Eat

Edible parts: Fruit

The flower blossoms can be used to make tea. The fruits can be eaten raw (despite containing a toxin), dried, or as jelly.

This plant can be confused with the following toxic species. Always verify identification carefully before consuming any wild plant.

VERY TOXIC

Pokeweed

Phytolacca americana

SAFE

Blue-berried elder

Sambucus glauca

Pokeweed: Thick red/purple herbaceous stems (no bark), berries in a line (raceme), simple large leaves, large white taproot.

Blue-berried elder: Woody bark, berries in broad flat clusters (cymes), compound leaves with 5-7 leaflets.

It is a temperate plant.

North America, USA,

Countries: Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, Bahamas, Belize, Canada, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guatemala, Honduras, Haiti, Jamaica, St Kitts & Nevis, St Lucia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico, El Salvador, Trinidad & Tobago, United States, St Vincent

A temperate shrub in the Adoxaceae family that produces blue berries. The berries can be boiled, dried, and stored for later use.

Also put in the Caprifoliaceae family. An unresolved name in The Plant List.

References (1)

Stubbs, R. D., 1966, An investigation of the Edible and Medicinal Plants used by the Flathead Indians. MA thesis University of Montana. p 41