Al Schneider's Rocky Mountains Plant Descriptions

Red Elderberry
Sambucus racemosa
Moschatel family (Adoxaceae)

One variety or another of Elderberry is found in many areas of the United States. While elderberry syrup, pies, and wine are staples in some parts of the country, they are not often produced in the Colorado Rockies because S. racemosa and its local cousin S. nigra are bitter and possibly toxic. The leaves, stems and roots contain cyanogenic glycosides capable of causing cyanide poisoning. Linnaeus named this and this species in 1753. "Racemosa" describes the growth pattern of the flower cluster.


©2014 Yan Soucie, Steve Sullivan

Description

Erect shrub, 3-6' tall, with highly branched, red stems that arch and are brittle and pithy. Leaves are , with 5-17 , and . Tiny white-cream flowers arranged in rounded clusters to 5" across. Flowers often have a strong, unpleasant smell. are bright red or purple-black in dense clusters.

Field Marks

Tall, arching stems, with white rounded flowerheads; clustered red ; , and .

© Al Schneider

A leaf is compound when multiple leaflets are on the same stem.

Like the teeth on a saw, leaves and other surfaces can have toothed edges.

Deciduous plants are those that lose all of their leaves for part of the year.

fruit -- any seed-bearing structure in flowering plants. It is formed from the ovary after flowering.

pinnate -- A compound leaf with two rows of leaflets.

lanceolate -- Lance-shaped. Long, wider in the middle.

drupe -- A fruit in which an outer fleshy part surrounds a hardened shell containing a seed. A peach is a drupe. A raspberry is composed of drupelets.

In an opposite leaf arrangement the leaves come in pairs with one leaf on each side of a stem.

genus -- A subdivision of a botanical Family in which all members have a significant number of similar characteristics.

leaflets -- Each little leaf-like thing in a compound leaf is a leaflet.

The botanical term "berry" is different from common usage. Strawberries and raspberries are not berries. But a tomatoe is. A true berry is a fruit with the seeds immersed in the pulp.