Note: This is a project under development. The articles on this wiki are just being initiated and broadly incomplete. You can Help creating new pages.
Sambucus nigra - Elderberry
Sambucus nigra is a species complex of flowering plants in the family Adoxaceae native to most of Europe and North America. Common names include elder, elderberry, black elder, European elder, European elderberry and European black elderberry.[1] It grows in a variety of conditions including both wet and dry fertile soils, primarily in sunny locations.
Contents
Description
It is a deciduous shrub or small tree growing to 6 m (20 ft) tall and wide (rarely 10m tall). The bark, light grey when young, changes to a coarse grey outer bark with lengthwise furrowing. The leaves are arranged in opposite pairs, 10–30 cm long, pinnate with five to seven (rarely nine) leaflets, the leaflets 5–12 cm long and 3–5 cm broad, with a serrated margin.
The hermaphrodite flowers are borne in large, flat corymbs 10–25 cm diameter in late spring to mid summer, the individual flowers ivory white, 5–6 mm diameter, with five petals; they 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; they are an important food for many fruit-eating birds, notably blackcaps.
Uses
- This plant is used as a medicinal plant by native peoples and herbalists.[2] Stembark, leaves, flowers, fruits, and root extracts are used in bronchitis, cough, upper respiratory cold infections, and fever.[Clarification needed]
- Sambucus nigra fruits and flowers have been used in traditional Austrian medicine - internally (fruits as tea, jelly, juice, or syrup; flowers as tea or syrup) for treatment of disorders of the respiratory tract, mouth, gastrointestinal tract, and skin, and for viral infections, fever, colds, and influenza.[3]
- The berries are edible after cooking and can be used to make jam, jelly, chutney and Pontack sauce.
