Elder
American Elders in flower, Pamplico, South Carolina
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Dipsacales Family: Caprifoliaceae Genus: Sambucus
Species
About 25 species, including: Sambucus nigra - Black Elder Sambucus canadensis - American Elder Sambucus glauca - Blueberry Elder Sambucus racemosa - Red-berried Elder

Elder or Elderberry (Sambucus) is a genus of fast-growing shrubs or small trees in the family Caprifoliaceae. They bear bunches of small white or cream coloured flowers in the spring, that are followed by bunches of small red, bluish or black berries. The berries are a very valuable food resource for many birds.

Common North American species include American Elder Sambucus canadensis in the east, and Blueberry Elder Sambucus glauca in the west; both have blue-black berries.

The common European species is the Common or Black Elder Sambucus nigra, with black berries.

The Red-berried Elder Sambucus racemosa is found throughout the colder parts of the Northern Hemisphere; European and Asian plants are treated as S. racemosa var. racemosa, and North American plants as S. racemosa var. pubens. As the name suggests, the berries are bright red.

Both flowers and berries can be made into wine, and in Hungary an elderberry brandy is produced (requiring 50 kg of fruit to produce 1 litre of brandy). The berries are best not eaten raw as they are mildly poisonous, causing vomiting (particularly if eaten unripe). The mild cyanide toxicity is destroyed by cooking. The berries can also be made into jam or pies.

In Hungary and Romania, the flowers are made into a syrup or cordial (in Romanian: socată), which is diluted with water before drinking. The popularity of this traditional drink has recently encouraged some commercial soft drink producers to introduce elderflower-flavoured drinks.

For other uses of the word Elder, see the disambiguation page Elder.

American Elder flowers

Elderberry fruit heads, Yauhanna, South Carolina

Missing image Sambucus_racemosa2.jpg Red-berried Elder (Sambucus racemosa)

External links

• Liber Herbarum II on Sambucus nigra (http://www.liberherbarum.com/Pn0093.HTM)
• Plants For A Future page on Sambucus nigra (http://www.scs.leeds.ac.uk/cgi-bin/pfaf/arr_html?Sambucus+nigra)

da:Hyld (Sambucus nigra) de:Holunder fr:Sureau nl:Vlier sl:bezeg pl:Bez