They’re generally regarded as the least desirable to grow or forage because they can be toxic if not prepared properly. Their berries range from red to yellow-orange. For instance, red elders ripen much earlier and grow grape-like fruit clusters. ![]() It differs from its cousins in many ways. The red elder’s geographical range overlaps with and stretches beyond the blue elder’s range, growing across the majority of the northern half of the United States and as far north as Alaska. The berries are generally blue in color with a white bloom. It mainly grows in British Columbia and through the western United States, especially the northwestern states and northern California. It sometimes grows as a tree, reaching heights of 30 feet or more. The blue elder is similar to the American and European, but every facet of it is larger than its cousins. racemosa) elder plants - are also worth mentioning. Though American and European elderberries are the most widely known, two others - the blue (S. These lenticels are a key feature to recognize to help you more easily identify elder when foraging. The older branches are covered in small, scablike lenticels, which are specialized tissues that allow the plant to breathe. They’re also quite pliable, bending from the increasing weight of the fruit clusters as harvest approaches. The branches of elderberry are semi-hollow and filled with pith. This growing habit makes harvesting elderberries easy: Just snip off the entire cyme to collect dozens of berries. What elderberries lack in size, they make up for with tremendous production each cyme may produce hundreds of berries in one growing season. When young, the fruits are green, and as they mature and ripen, they become their familiar purplish color. The plant’s fruit, while often called a berry, is technically a drupe. ![]() In the wild, they reproduce by rhizomes and root suckers, as well as by seed, and tend to grow in dense thickets, similar to blackberries and raspberries. nigra) elderberries grow anywhere from 5 to 20 feet in height. The fragrant blossoms open in late June and July.Īmerican (Sambucus canadensis) and European (S. These cymes are typically 4 to 9 inches across, and each can contain hundreds of flowers. The small, white, five-petal flowers, about 1/4 inch across, are produced in rounded, somewhat flat-topped clusters, called cymes, at the ends of the branches. The leaves and stems of elderberry give off a strong, unpleasant odor when cut or bruised. The leaf typically consists of seven leaflets, which are sharply serrated 2 to 5 inches long elliptic with sharply pointed tips and sessile, or have growth on very short petioles. Samuel Thayer, an expert on edible wild plants, offers an excellent description of elder.
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