Edible plant - novice Season - spring to autumn Common names Elder, Black elder, common elder, European elder, blue elder,
Scientific name meaning: A sambuca is an ancient triangular hand-harp that was most likely made from elder. This is where the Greek-originated word Sambucus is believed to be derived from. The species name Nigra is from the Latin Niger, meaning black.
Habitat  Elder can be found anywhere songbirds poop. Underneath other trees, along fences and footpaths, underneath telegraph poles and in hedgerows. It is a native of Britain. |
Overall structure  Elder is a weak tree/shrub so tends to have many canes around its main trunk. Because it breaks so readily, there is often lots of broken twigs around its base. It can reach 8m tall but rarely does unless it has some sort of support. |
Leaves  The leaves are pinnately compound with two to three pairs of oval-shaped leaflets shaped serrated leaflets, and a similarly formed terminal leaflet. Sometime, the leaves nearest the flowerhead are trifoliate, having only three leaflets in total. They have a pungent "cat-pee" smell when crushed. |
Trunk  Elder usually has one main trunk and several canes/smaller trunks. The bark has many circular notches that are aften darkened with age. As the growth ages, the bark becomes more deeply ridged and furrowed. |
Flowers  The five-petalled, white flowers of elder appear on umbellate cymes from spring through to summer. They emerge from between two leaves and initallialy branch five ways from a central point at the top of the stem. The pollen is lemon-yellow and ages to brown. The aroma of fresh elder flowers is sweet and heady. The flowers bloom successively over a period of roughly six weeks. |
Fruit  The berries appear quickly after flowering and begin as egg-shaped, green oval fruits that become spherical and darken to dark purple - almost black when ripe from mid-summer. The stems of the flower stalk will also darken to a dark red-purple and the entire inflorescence will bend with the weight of the ripened fruit. The individual berries are easily removed when ripe. |
Possible lookalikes  Elder could be confused with ground elder, however this is a low growing plant with much softer stems, lobed base leaflets and a strong parsley-like smell when crushed. Before and during flowering, elder could be confused with rowan. However, rowan has more pairs of leaflets and its flower heads are not branch five ways like elder. Both of these plants have edible uses. |
Use as a food The flowers of elder contain a natural bloom of yeast, so can be used to make elderflower champagne. Syrups, cordials, jellies and infusions can also be made from the flowers.
The green unripe berries can be transformed into elderberry capers. Once ripened, the berries can be used to make syrups, cordials, wines, jams, jellies, sauces, vinegars, chutneys, fruit leathers, and liquours Use in herbal medicine and medicine There have been so many uses for elder in herbal medicine it is sometimes called "The medicine chest of the countryman".
The flowers and berries are used most often. Elder has been used to treat colds, viruses, chill blains, bruises, sprains, eye conditions, water retention, chest conditions, diarrhoea, burns, dropsy, asthma, bronchitis, and fevers, amongst many other ailments
If you are suffering from any ailment or need medical advice, please see your General Practitioner.
Hazards All parts of elder contain cyanogenic glycosides. The leaves, barks, stems and twigs should never be consumed. In the flowers and berries, although the risk from poisoning is considered to be low, processing such as fermenting, pickling or heating should be performed in order to make them safe to consume.
It is worth noting that some of the glycosides that are considered to be the poisonous part of elder, are also the compounds responsible for many of the tree's medicinal benefits. Therefore, the will be largely destroyed on processing
Other uses Elder's hollow wood was used to make flutes. Tubes of elder (the wood with the pith removed) were used to blow air into the centre of fires, stoking them. This gave elder its common name: ‘aeld’ is a Saxon word for fire Importance to other species Provides a valuable nectar source for pollinators, and abundant food source for birds.
Always stay safe when foraging. You need to be 100% sure of your identification, 100% sure that your foraged item is edible, and 100% sure that you are not allergic to it (it is good practice to always try a small amount of any new food you are consuming). If in doubt, leave it out!
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