Alternate name: American Elderberry, Common Elderberry
Family: Caprifoliaceae, Honeysuckle view all from this family
Description Large, many-branched, thicket-forming shrub or small tree often with several trunks with compact, rounded crown, numerous small, whitish flowers in large clusters, and bluish fruit.
Height: 25' (7.6 m).
Diameter: 1' (0.3 m).
Leaves: opposite; pinnately compound; 5-7" (13-18 cm) long; sometimes nearly evergreen southward; 5-9 leaflets 1-5" (2.5-13 cm) long, 3/8-1 1/2" (1-4 cm) wide; paired except at end, narrowly ovate or lance-shaped, long-pointed at tip, short-pointed and unequal at base; sharply saw-toothed; short-stalked. Yellow-green above, paler and often hairy beneath.
Bark: gray or brown, furrowed.
Twigs: green, stout, angled, often hairy; with ringed nodes and thick, white pith.
Flowers: nearly 1/4" (6 mm) wide; with yellowish-white , 5-lobed corolla; fragrant; in upright, flat-topped, many-branched clusters 4-8" (10-20 cm) wide; in summer.
Fruit: nearly 1/4" (6 mm) in diameter; dark blue berry with whitish bloom and 3 one-seeded nutlets; many clusters; maturing in summer and autumn.
Warning All species of elderberries that grow in North America are potentially poisonous if plant parts are ingested. Sensitivity to a toxin varies with a person’s age, weight, physical condition, and individual susceptibility. Children are most vulnerable because of their curiosity and small size. Toxicity can vary in a plant according to season, the plant’s different parts, and its stage of growth; and plants can absorb toxic substances, such as herbicides, pesticides, and pollutants from the water, air, and soil.
Habitat Moist soils along streams and canyons of mountains, in open areas in coniferous forests; also along roadsides, fencerows, and clearings.
Range S. British Columbia south along coast to S. California, east in mountains to Trans-Pecos Texas, and north to W. Montana; also in NW. Mexico; to 10,000' (3,048 m).
Discussion The sweetish berries are used in preserves and pies but should never be eaten when fresh and raw. Lewis and Clark first reported Blue Elder as an "alder" with "pale, sky blue" berries. A remedy for fever has been concocted from the bark. Blue Elderberry is planted as an ornamental for the numerous whitish flowers and bluish fruits.
