Scientific Name: Sambucus nigra
Common Name: elderberry, European elder
Family Name: Viburnaceae
Origin: Africa, Europe, Garden origin
Hardiness Zone: Zone 4: (-34 to -29 °C)
Plant Type: Shrub - deciduous
Mature Size: 2 - 3m x 2 - 3m (height x width)
Habit: Arching, Spreading, Twiggy, Upright
Form: Oval - vertical, Vase
Texture: Medium - coarse
Landscape Uses: Attract birds, Medicinal plant, Mixed shrub border, Reclamation, Wildlife food, Woodland margin
Exposure: Full sun only if soil kept moist, Part sun/part shade
Soil or Media: Humus rich, Well-drained
Leaves: Compound, Opposite, Soft flexible, Pinnate venation, Glabrous, Odd-pinnate, Leaflets stalked, Lanceolate, Ovate, Serrate
Flowers: Cyme, White, Jun-Jul
Fruit: Drupe, Edible, Blue, Black, Jul-Aug-Sep
Key ID Features:
Leaves mostly with 5 coarsely serrated leaflets; flowers white to pinkish in corymbs; fruit a oval black drupe up to 6mm wide