All About Elderberry!

Have you ever wondered how to use Elderberry? 

Elderberries and flowers have a long history as a traditional remedy for colds and flu.

We’ll be primarily discussing the berries, which are rich in antioxidants as well as have an anti-inflammatory and immunomodulating (stimulating the immune system to help

fight infection) effect in the body. Elderberry has also been shown to have antiviral effects.

Elder

Botanical Name: Sambucus nigra

Family: Adoxaceae

Parts Used: berries and flowers

Why use it?

Elderberry is an absolute superstar when you’re getting through cold and flu season. It’s a safe herb that is often used as food. You can use elderberry preventatively to help avoid getting sick, and in increased amounts if you do catch something going around...

But we’ll get into that more later!

Elder is a deciduous woody perennial growing typically 5-30 feet tall. It likes full sun to partial shade, and is often found in wet soils.

If you search around the margins of wetlands and forests, stream banks and ditches you are likely to find this shrubby plant. There are a number of potentially toxic lookalikes such as Aralia spinosa (devils walking stick), Phytolacca americana (pokeweed), and Water Hemlock (can be confused in the flowering stage and is extremely poisonous). But don’t let that scare you! You are all capable and foraging can be safe, rewarding, and empowering! Just patient with yourself, go slow and get to know elder well, consult your field guides, and as always be absolutely sure of what you harvest.

A few features to look for:

- Single trunk or multiple stems typically with a scraggly appearance

- Gray-brown bark

- Hairless branches/twigs with a spongy white pith

- Pinnate (leaflets arranged opposite each other in pairs) leaves with 5-9 leaflets with serrated margins

- Flower head is 3-10 inches across with numerous 

- white flowers (each about 1 cm wide with 5 petals and stamens)

- Berries are dark purple/black, about 1cm in diameter, contain several tiny seeds, and are in drooping clusters

Harvesting

You can harvest berries when they are ripe using your fingers or snipping the entire cluster with pruning shears. Remember though that you’re sharing the harvest with birds and other wildlife, as well as future elder plants! So always forage responsibly and only

take what you will need.

When you get home separate the berries completely from any stems and leaves as these are not edible. While you can use fresh elderberries in cooking and medicine making, it is not recommended that you eat them raw! The seeds contain substances that can cause nausea and vomiting; however, cooking them diminishes this effect.

To learn more about how to use elderberry including some useful recipes; consider becoming a patron!