Sambucus callicarpa

Greene

Red coast elder, Pacific Red Elder

AdoxaceaeFruitFlowersPotential hazards — see below

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Wikimedia Commons

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Wikimedia Commons - Douglas Goldman

What to Eat

Edible parts: Flowers, Fruit

The flowers and fruit are edible, used for jellies, pies, and wine.

Known Hazards

Dangerous Lookalikes

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

Red coast elder

Sambucus callicarpa

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

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

Where to Find It

It is a temperate plant. They occur in low lying damp areas.

Britain, Canada, Europe, North America, USA,

Countries: Andorra, Antigua & Barbuda, Albania, Austria, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Barbados, Belgium, Bulgaria, Bahamas, Belarus, Belize, Canada, Switzerland, Costa Rica, Cuba, Cyprus, Czechia, Germany, Denmark, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Estonia, Spain, Finland, France, United Kingdom, Grenada, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Croatia, Haiti, Hungary, Ireland, Iceland, Italy, Jamaica, St Kitts & Nevis, St Lucia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia, Monaco, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Malta, Mexico, Nicaragua, Netherlands, Norway, Panama, Poland, Puerto Rico, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Russia, Sweden, Slovenia, Slovakia, San Marino, El Salvador, Trinidad & Tobago, Ukraine, United States, St Vincent

How to Identify

A shrub or small tree. They grow to 1.5-4 m high. The leaves have 5-7 leaflets. Each leaflet is 6-16 cm long. They are sword shaped and with sharp teeth. They are hairy along the veins. The flowers are yellowish-white. The flowers are star shaped and fragrant. They are in rounded clusters which are 10 cm across. The berries are purple black or red and 4-6 mm across.

Notes

There are about 25 Sambucus species. Also put in the family Sambucaceae.

References (3)

Farrar, J.L., 1995, Trees of the Northern United States and Canada. Iowa State University press/Ames p 175
Fl. Franciscana 3:342. 1892
Plants for a Future database, The Field, Penpol, Lostwithiel, Cornwall, PL22 0NG, UK. http://www.scs.leeds.ac.uk/pfaf/