Elder
(Sambucus caeruleus)
elder berry, blue-berried elder
Description:
A large clustered shrub or tree, 10-12 feet tall. The leaves
are opposite. divided into 5-9 lanceolate leaflets and sharply
serrate. Small cream to white flowers are in large flat-topped
umbels. The berry-like fruit is nearly black, with powdery coating
that gives a blue cast.
Found throughout North America in damp places, woods, valleys.
EDIBLE,
Medicinal: Flower heads can be dipped in batter and fried.
They contain rutin, vitamins, minerals, and oils. The berries
are a rich source of vitamin A and C.
They make excellent jelly and syrup, sour eaten raw. It is a
cathartic, diaphoretic, diuretic, febrifuge, purgative, and
stimulant. Juice from the green leaves is used externally and
can alleviate the effects of poison oak. Leaves should not be
taken internally, good in salves and ointments for ulcers, infected
wounds, gangrene. A tea from the flowers is used for colds,
flu, fevers, appendicitis, sore eyes, skin diseases, internal
ulcers. Used with peppermint, it is even better. The root bark
tea helps with headache, mucous congestion and labor in childbirth.
Seeds of the red berry elder (S. racemosa) are toxic. Use only
seedless berries in any elder species, cook berries before eating.
