SAMBUCUS NIGRA

Family and Genus:- See- CAPRIFOLIACEAE

Common Names:- Elder

Homotypic Synonyms:- Sambucus florida.

Meaning:- Sambucus (L) Latin for the elder tree.

Nigra (L) Black.

General description:- Shrub or small tree , with brownish-grey, grooved or

furrowed (sulcate), corky bark and whitish pith.

Stems:-

1) Up to 10 m, often with vigorous, erect shoots from the base, branches often

arching.

Leaves:-

1) Leaflets, 5-7(-9), 4·5-12(-18) x 2-6(-10) cm, ovate, ovate-lanceolate or ovate-

elliptical, accuminate, margins serrate, sparsely pubescent beneath.

2) Stipules, absent or very small, subulate.

Flower:-

1) Inflorescence, 10-24 cm diam, corymbose, with (4-)5 primary rays.

2) Corolla, white.

a) anthers, yellowish-white.

Fruit:-

1) Drupe, with 3-5 compressed, cartilaginous pyrenes, globose, black (very rarely

red).

Key features:-

1) Shrubs or small trees

2) Stipules, absent or very small.

3) Inflorescence, corymbose.

4) Fruit, usually black.

5) Pith, whitish.

Click here for a glossary of terms used.

Habitat:- Damp woodland, gorges, scrub along streams, ruderal habitats by

villages. 0-1200 m.

Distribution:- Fairly widespread and common throughout the Mediterranean.

Widespread in Europe, also cultivated. Rare on Crete, mainly in the east. Most

probably seriously under recorded.

Flowering time:- Late Apr to July.

Photos by:- Steve Lenton