''Sambucus racemosa'' is a species of elderberry known by the common names red elderberry and red-berried elder.

Distribution and habitat

It is native to Europe, northern temperate Asia, and North America across Canada and the United States. It grows in riparian environments, woodlands, and other habitats, generally in moist areas.

Description

''Sambucus racemosa'' is often a treelike

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

growing tall. The stems are soft with a pithy center. Each individual leaf is composed of 5 to 7 leaflike leaflets, each of which is up to long, lance-shaped to narrowly oval, and irregularly serrated along the edges. The leaflets have a strong disagreeable odor when crushed.Trees, Shrubs, and Woody Vines of North Carolina: Red Elderberry (''Sambucus racemosa'' var. ''pubens'')
/ref> The inflorescence is a vaguely cone-shaped

panicle A panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. (softcover ). Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike inflorescence, by requiring that the flowers (and fruit) be pedicellate (having a single stem per flower). The branches of a panicle are of ...

of several cymes of flowers blooming from the ends of stem branches. The flower buds are pink when closed, and the open flowers are white, cream, or yellowish. Each flower has small, recurved petals and a star-shaped axis of five white

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

s tipped in yellow anthers. The flowers are fragrant and visited by

hummingbird Hummingbirds are birds native to the Americas and comprise the biological family Trochilidae. With about 361 species and 113 genera, they occur from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, but the vast majority of the species are found in the tropics aro ...

s and

butterflies Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...

. The fruit is a bright red or sometimes purple

drupe In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is an indehiscent fruit in which an outer fleshy part (exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pit'', ''stone'', or '' pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a seed (''kernel'') ...

containing 3 to 5 seeds.

Varieties and subspecies

* ''Sambucus racemosa'' subsp. ''kamtschatica'' — red elder, native to

Northeastern Asia Northeast Asia or Northeastern Asia is a geographical subregion of Asia; its northeastern landmass and islands are bounded by the Pacific Ocean. The term Northeast Asia was popularized during the 1930s by American historian and political scie ...

. * ''Sambucus racemosa'' var. ''melanocarpa'' — Rocky Mountain elder, native to the Western United States and Western Canada, including the Rocky Mountains and

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...

. * ''Sambucus racemosa'' subsp. ''pubens'' — American red elder, native to Eastern North America * ''Sambucus racemosa'' subsp. ''racemosa'' — European red elder. * ''Sambucus racemosa'' var. ''racemosa'' — Pacific red elderberry. * ''Sambucus racemosa'' subsp. ''sibirica'' — red elder, native to Siberia. * ''Sambucus racemosa'' subsp. ''sieboldiana'' — Japanese red elder

Uses

The stems, roots and foliage are poisonous, and the berries can be toxic or cause nausea if eaten raw.

Medicinal plant

It has been used as a traditional medicinal plant by Native Americans, including the Bella Coola,

Carrier Carrier may refer to: Entertainment * ''Carrier'' (album), a 2013 album by The Dodos * ''Carrier'' (board game), a South Pacific World War II board game * ''Carrier'' (TV series), a ten-part documentary miniseries that aired on PBS in April 20 ...

, Gitksan, Hesquiaht, Menominee,

Northern Paiute Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a r ...

Ojibwa The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains. According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...

, Paiute,

Potawatomi The Potawatomi , also spelled Pottawatomi and Pottawatomie (among many variations), are a Native American people of the western Great Lakes region, upper Mississippi River and Great Plains. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a m ...

, Tlingit, and Haida peoples.University of Michigan at Dearborn: Native American Ethnobotany for '' Sambucus racemosa''
/ref> The uses included as an emetic, antidiarrheal, cold and cough remedy, dermatological and gynecological aid, and a

hemostat A hemostat (also called a hemostatic clamp, arterial forceps, or pean after Jules-Émile Péan) is a surgical tool used in many surgical procedures to control bleeding. For this reason, it is common in the initial phases of surgery for the initia ...

Food

The fruits are reportedly safe to eat when cooked, but are potentially poisonous when raw. They were cooked in a variety of recipes by indigenous peoples, including by the

Apache The Apache () are a group of culturally related Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, which include the Chiricahua, Jicarilla, Lipan, Mescalero, Mimbreño, Ndendahe (Bedonkohe or Mogollon and Nednhi or Carrizaleño an ...

, Bella Coola, Gitxsan, Gosiute, Makah, Ojibwa, Quileute, Skokomish, Yurok peoples. The fruits are popular with birds, who also distribute the seeds.Pojar, J. & A. MacKinnon. (1994). ''Plants of the Pacific Northwest''. Lone Pine Publishing. The flowers attract

and

Cultivation

''Sambucus racemosa'' is cultivated as an ornamental plant, for use as a

or small tree in traditional and wildlife gardens, and

natural landscape A natural landscape is the original landscape that exists before it is acted upon by human culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the kn ...

design projects.

Cultivars

Cultivars in the nursery trade include: *''Sambucus racemosa'' 'Black Lace' — burgundy foliage *''Sambucus racemosa'' 'Lemon Lace' — golden yellow and green foliage *''Sambucus racemosa'' 'Lemony Lace' — golden green foliage, with red new growth *''Sambucus racemosa'' 'Sutherland Gold' — green foliage, with bronze new growth: it has received the Royal Horticultural Society's

Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established annual award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. History The Award of Garden Merit ...

Images

File:Sambucus_racemosa_1567.JPG, Fruit ( Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest) File:0 Sambucus racemosa - Vallorcine.JPG, Leaves and buds of the red elderberry File:Sambucus_racemosa_6269.JPG, Inflorescence and foliage File:Sambucus racemosa ies.jpg, Clusters of berries Sambucus racemosa racemosa & melanocarpa range map 3.png, Natural range of ''S. racemosa'' var. ''racemosa'' (green) and var. ''melanocarpa'' (blue) in western North America.

References

External links

* * * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q157276 racemosa Flora of Europe Flora of temperate Asia Flora of Canada Flora of the Eastern United States Flora of the Western United States Flora of California Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Berries Bird food plants Butterfly food plants Edible plants Garden plants Flora without expected TNC conservation status