Sambucus pubens

What to Eat

Edible parts: Flowers, Fruit, Roots - tea

The flowers are edible raw or cooked. The fruit, about 5mm in diameter and borne in large clusters, is edible raw or cooked but has a bitter flavour. It is quite nutritious, with a relatively high fat, protein, and carbohydrate content. Drying the fruit before use reduces some of its rank taste, and the large clusters make harvesting straightforward. Some caution is advised regarding toxicity. The root can be made into a tea-like beverage.

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

American red elder

Sambucus pubens

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

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

Where to Find It

It grows in damp places on the edge of woods.

Canada, North America, USA,

How to Identify

A shrub. It grows 1-3.1 m tall. The leaves have 5-7 leaflets. These taper to the tip. The buds are plump and reddish. The flowers occur in clusters shaped like a pyramid. These appear as the leaves unfold. The fruit are red. They are probably edible but not attractive.

How to Grow

Tolerates most soils, including chalk, but prefers a moist loamy soil. Grows well in heavy clay soils. Tolerates some shade but is best in a sunny position. Tolerates atmospheric pollution and coastal situations. Closely related to S. racemosa and considered part of that species by some botanists. Plants in this genus are notably resistant to honey fungus.

Propagation: Seed is best sown as soon as it is ripe in autumn in a cold frame, where it should germinate in early spring. Stored seed sown in spring will likely germinate better with 2 months warm followed by 2 months cold stratification. Prick seedlings into individual pots when large enough to handle. If growth is good, young plants can go into permanent positions in early summer; otherwise, overwinter them in a sheltered nursery bed or in pots and plant out the following spring. Cuttings of half-ripe wood, 7–10cm with a heel, can be taken in July/August in a frame. Cuttings of mature wood from the current season's growth, 15–20cm with a heel, can be taken in late autumn in a frame or sheltered outdoor bed.

Medicinal Uses

The bark and leaves are used as a diuretic and purgative. The blossoms have been used in the treatment of measles.

Other Uses

The stem is easily hollowed and can be used to make a whistle.

Red elderberry is a deciduous shrub reaching 4 m tall, hardy to UK zone 4. It produces hermaphrodite flowers from June to July, pollinated by insects. The plant thrives in light sandy, medium loamy, or heavy clay soils across a wide pH range from mildly acidic to mildly alkaline. It tolerates semi-shade or full sun, prefers moist conditions, and withstands strong winds and atmospheric pollution, though it cannot tolerate maritime exposure.

Notes

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

More from Adoxaceae

Sambucus africana

Sambucus australasica

Yellow elderberry

Sambucus callicarpa

Red coast elder, Pacific Red Elder

Sambucus cerulea

Blue Elderberry, Blue elder

Sambucus ebulus

Dwarf elder, Danewort, Wallwort, Dane's elder

Sambucus gaudichaudiana

White elderberry, Native elder