''Sambucus cerulea'' or ''Sambucus nigra'' ssp. ''cerulea'', with the common names blue elderberry and blue elder, is a coarse textured

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

species of

elder An elder is someone with a degree of seniority or authority. Elder or elders may refer to: Positions Administrative * Elder (administrative title), a position of authority Cultural * North American Indigenous elder, a person who has and tr ...

in the family Adoxaceae.

Description

''Sambucus cerulea'' is a large, deciduous shrub, which can grow to be in height and in width. It normally grows rather wildly from several stems, which can be heavily pruned (or even cut to the ground) during winter dormancy. The

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

are hairless, strongly pointed and sharp-toothed. They are elliptical to lanceolate, and the blade extends unequally on the stalk at the base. The leaves are commonly long and wide. The white or creamy coloured flowers, occurring May to June, are numerous and form a flat-topped cluster usually about wide. They are umbel-shaped, normally with 4 to 5 rays extending from the base. The flowers have a strong, unpleasant odor. Individual flowers are wide. The fruits given are berry-like drupes. They are juicy, round, and approximately 4–6 mm in diameter. They are bluish-black, with a

glaucous ''Glaucous'' (, ) is used to describe the pale grey or bluish-green appearance of the surfaces of some plants, as well as in the names of birds, such as the glaucous gull (''Larus hyperboreus''), glaucous-winged gull (''Larus glaucescens''), g ...

powder coating (helping to distinguish them from other elderberries), which lends them a pale powdery blue colour. Each fruit contains 3 to 5 small seed-like stones, each enclosing a single seed.

Taxonomy

The plant is classified by several different botanical names. Both the current United States Department of Agriculture database and '' The Jepson Manual'' of California flora (2013) classify it as ''S. nigra'' subsp. ''cerulea''. The Sunset Western Garden Book identifies the plant as '' Sambucus mexicana'', and note use of ''S. caerulea'' also. The botanist Victor King Chesnut (1867–1938) had classified it as ''S. glauca'' in 1902, when studying the plants used by the Indigenous peoples of California in Mendocino County.

Distribution and habitat

''S. cerulea'' is native to the Western United States, northwestern Mexico, and British Columbia. It is found from the Pacific coasts, through California and the

Great Basin The Great Basin is the largest area of contiguous endorheic basin, endorheic watersheds, those with no outlets, in North America. It spans nearly all of Nevada, much of Utah, and portions of California, Idaho, Oregon, Wyoming, and Baja California ...

, to Montana, Wyoming, Texas and

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

. This species grows at elevations below , in diverse habitats of mountains and hills, valleys, riparian zones, open places in woodlands and forests, and exposed slopes where moisture is reachable.

Toxicity

The raw berries contain a toxin which, if eaten raw, may induce nausea in some people.

Uses

The flower blossoms can be used to make tea. The fruits can be eaten raw (despite containing a toxin), dried, or as jelly.

Native American

The indigenous peoples of North America with the plant in their homelands use the leaves, blossoms, bark, roots, and wood for preparing traditional medicinal remedies, taken internally or applied externally. The fresh, dried, and cooked berries are used for food. Some tribes used the wood to make musical instruments, such as flutes, clappers, and small whistles; and smoking implements. Soft wood was used as a spindle "twirling stick" to make fire by friction. The bark was used to produce a remedy for fever. Stems and berries were used as a dye for basket weaving materials. The Concow tribe of the Mendocino region calls the plant nō-kōm-hē-i′-nē in the Konkow language.

Cultivation

''S. nigra'' ssp. ''cerulea'' is cultivated as an ornamental plant by plant nurseries, for planting in traditional, native plant, and

habitat garden A wildlife garden (or wild garden) is an environment created by a gardener that serves as a sustainable haven for surrounding wildlife. Wildlife gardens contain a variety of habitats that cater to native and local plants, birds, amphibians, ...

s. It is also used for natural landscaping and habitat restoration projects. It can become a multi-trunk tree when trained from youth with only several dominant trunks. The plant is beneficial in wildlife gardens, its flowers attract pollinators, butterflies and hummingbirds, and its berries feed other bird species and chipmunks.

Footnotes

References

External links

* * * {{Authority control cerulea Berries Bird food plants Butterfly food plants Drought-tolerant plants Garden plants of North America Flora of Northeastern Mexico Flora of Northwestern Mexico Flora of the Northwestern United States Flora of the Southwestern United States Flora of British Columbia Flora of California Flora of New Mexico Flora of the Cascade Range Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands Plants used in Native American cuisine Plants used in traditional Native American medicine Flora without expected TNC conservation status