Elder is a malodorous shrub whose berries nevertheless act as an important food source for birds. To humans, except for its flowers and ripened fruits, other parts are poisonous. Ripen fruits can be cooked and made into jams, jellies and chutneys, while flowers could be made into syrups, but it is recommended to be guided by a professional before picking.
I. Appearance and Characteristics
Sambucus nigra is a species complex of flowering plants in the family Adoxaceae native to most of Europe. Common names include elder, elderberry, black elder, European elder, European elderberry, and European black elderberry.
Sambucus nigra is native to Europe as far east as Turkey. It is native in, and common throughout, the British Isles. It has been introduced to parts of most other continents of the world.
Hedges, waste-ground roadsides, and woods are the typical habitats for the species. S. nigra is recorded as very common in Ireland in hedges as scrub in woods.
Elderberry is a deciduous shrub or small tree growing to 6 metres (20 ft) tall and wide, rarely reaching 10 m (33 ft) tall. The bark, light gray when young, changes to a coarse gray outer bark with lengthwise furrowing, lenticels prominent. The leaves are arranged in opposite pairs, 10–30 centimetres (4–12 inches) long, pinnate with five to seven (rarely nine) leaflets, the leaflets 5–12 cm (2–4+3⁄4 in) long and 3–5 cm (1+1⁄4–2 in) broad, with a serrated margin. The young stems are hollow.
The hermaphroditic flowers have five stamens, which are borne in large, flat corymbs 10–25 cm in diameter in late spring to mid-summer. The individual flowers are ivory white, 5–6 millimetres (3⁄16–1⁄4 in) in diameter, with five petals, and are pollinated by flies.
The fruit is a glossy, dark purple to black berry 3–5 mm diameter, produced in drooping clusters in late autumn. The dark color of elderberry fruit occurs from its rich phenolic content, particularly from anthocyanins.
Components of the elderberry plant, including its fruit, contain diverse phytochemicals, such as alkaloids, lectins, and cyanogenic glycosides, which may be toxic if consumed raw. The seeds and all green parts of the plant contain cyanogenic glycosides. Consumption of berries, leaves, bark or stems, if not properly prepared, may cause nausea, vomiting, and severe diarrhea. Elderberry plant constituents or products should not be consumed during pregnancy or by people with allergies or gastrointestinal diseases. Elderberry products may cause adverse effects when used with prescription drugs.
Except for the flowers and ripe berries (but including the ripe seeds), all parts of the plant are poisonous to mammals, containing the cyanogenic glycoside sambunigrin (C14H17NO6, CAS number 99-19-4). The bark contains calcium oxalate crystals.
II. How to Grow and Care
Sunlight
Elderberries prefer full sunlight, which will result in the most flowers and berries. Partial shade is fine if you are not anticipating buds or fruits.
Temperature and Humidity
This hardy bush does not require a specific temperature or humidity level. However, this plant prefers to be cooler than sweltering.
Watering
Elder has a shallow root system, so it’s necessary to keep the soil around your plant consistently moist. Especially in the first year, it’s important to not allow the soil to completely dry out. Take care during dry spells as your Elder will need extra water during that time.
Soil
Elderberry trees are not very finicky but they will do best in moist, well-drained, and moderately acidic soil. An elderberry plant will do well in clay soil but only if it is well-draining. They need moisture so they won’t do well in sandy soil, but they can only tolerate flooding situations for a couple of days at most.
Fertilizing
Elder loves to grow in nutritionally rich soil, so a yearly application of fertilizer will do wonders for your plant. Work either compost or a 10-10-10 fertilizer no deeper than 8 cm into the soil. This can be done either in the early spring or in late autumn.
Pruning
As the shrub ages, it will need pruning. Older canes will not be able to produce as much fruit on their tips as they used to so these stems, along with dead ones, will need to be pruned in late winter to early spring so the bush does not waste energy on supporting non-producing wood. The shrubs can produce suckers and runners, so it’s important to remove any unwanted shoots or they may take over your garden.
Propagation
Propagating the elderberry is easily done by berry-eating birds that drop the seeds they eat from the fruit. Those seeds usually take root and produce healthy trees. However, seeds manually harvested and propagated will not always sprout and they will not be duplicates of the parent plant. If you would like to make sure your elderberries are copies and planted where you’d like them, or you’d prefer to start a hedge of elderberry shrubs, you can use cuttings to propagate the plant. Here are easy steps to propagate elderberries with cuttings in water:
- Using a sterilized gardening cutting tool, take a 4- to 6-inch cutting of softwood (a soft branch with some spring to it) in the early spring. The cutting should be soft and a tiny bit green, but browner.
- Remove the leaves from the bottom but leave one set of leaves at the top of the cutting.
- Dip the bottom end in rooting hormone.
- Place cutting in a jar of fresh, clean water. Make sure the bottom half of the cutting is covered by water.
- Put the jar in a sunny area for about six to eight weeks.
- Change the water frequently.
- Roots will form in about two months of soaking. The roots will be quite sensitive so keep the cuttings out of the ground for a couple of weeks until the plant’s roots are strong enough to head into the soil.
Pests and Diseases
It’s not easy to destroy an elderberry shrub. You will not encounter too many pests or diseases other than typical aphids, mealybugs, elder shoot borers (moths), and scale. Elderberry shrubs may also contract canker, leaf spot, and powdery mildew.
III. Uses and Benefits
- Ornamental uses
Elder are a genus of ornamental shrub that work well as a hedge bush. Some species have variegated foliage, making them attractive garden additions. The showy and fragrant flowers and berries will attract a variety of pollinators and birds to the landscape.
- Medicinal uses
This plant is used in traditional medicine by native peoples and herbalists. Extracts of the flowers and fruits are used for cold and flu symptoms, although there is no high-quality clinical evidence that it is effective for treating any disease.
- Culinary uses
The dark blue or purple berries are mildly poisonous in their raw state, but are edible after cooking. They can be used to make jam, jelly, chutney, and Pontack sauce. In Scandinavia and Germany, soup made from the elderberry (e.g. the German Fliederbeersuppe) is a traditional meal.
Commonly, the flowerheads are used in infusions, giving a drink in Northern Europe and the Balkans. These drinks are sold commercially as elderflower cordial or elderflower pressé . In Europe, the flowers are made into a syrup or cordial (in Romanian: Socată, in Swedish: fläder(blom)saft, in Danish: hyldeblomstsaft / hyldedrik), which is diluted with water before drinking. The popularity of this traditional drink recently has encouraged some commercial soft drink producers to introduce elderflower-flavoured drinks (Fanta Shokata, Freaky Fläder). The flowers also may be dipped into a light batter and then fried to make elderflower fritters.
The berries may be made into elderberry wine. In Hungary, an elderberry brandy is made that requires 50 kilograms of fruit to produce 1 litre of brandy. In south-western Sweden, it is traditional to make a schnapps liqueur flavoured with elderflower. Elderflowers are used in liqueurs such as St-Germain, and in a mildly alcoholic sparkling elderflower ‘champagne’, although a more alcoholic home-made version can be made. In Beerse, Belgium, a variety of genever called beers vlierke is made from the berries.
- Wildlife value
Elder rates are fair to good forage for animals such as mule deer, elk, sheep, and small birds. The fruit are an important food for many fruit-eating birds, notably blackcaps. Ripe elderberries are a favorite food for migrating band-tailed pigeons in northern California, which may sometimes strip an entire bush in a short time. The species provides good habitat for large and small mammals, as well as nesting habitat for many birds, including hummingbirds, warblers, and vireos. It is also a larval host to the spring azure.
IV. Harvesting and Storage
The elderberry is a fantastic flowering tree that has many uses. Elderberries are harvested to be thoroughly cooked and prepared for jams, pies, syrups, wines, and used in tinctures for flu remedies. The berries will be ready to harvest in the late summer or early autumn when they are a rich, dark purple/black and are slightly soft.
Many gardeners like to use the elderberry flower in a calming potpourri mix because of its relaxing fragrance. The flowers of the elderberry tree should be harvested once the entire cluster has opened. Simply snip off the entire cluster of blooms. Be careful when harvesting the flowers because if you take too many of the blooms, it will impede the fruiting process.
