American black elderberry (Sambucus nigra)
Description
“Pet poisonous” – Toxic parts: leaves, bark, roots, buds Sambucus nigra is a species complex of flowering plants in the family Adoxaceae native to most of Europe and North America. Common names include elder, elderberry, black elder, European elder, European elderberry and European black elderberry. It grows in a variety of conditions including both wet and dry fertile soils, primarily in sunny locations. The English term for the tree is not believed to come from the word "old" but from the Anglo Saxon æld, meaning fire, because the hollow stems of the branches were used as bellows to blow air into a fire. It is a deciduous shrub or small tree growing to 6 m (20 ft) tall and wide, rarely 10 m (33 ft) tall). The bark, light grey when young, changes to a coarse grey outer bark with lengthwise furrowing. The leaves are arranged in opposite pairs, 10–30 cm long, pinnate with five to seven (rarely nine) leaflets, the leaflets 5–12 cm long and 3–5 cm broad, with a serrated margin. The young stems are hollow. The hermaphrodite flowers have five stamens and are borne in large, flat corymbs 10–25 cm diameter in late spring to mid summer, the individual flowers ivory white, 5–6 mm diameter, with five petals; they are pollinated by flies. The fruit is a glossy dark purple to black berry 3–5 mm diameter, produced in drooping clusters in late autumn they are an important food for many fruit-eating birds, notably blackcaps.
Taxonomic tree
-
Domain: Eukarya
-
-
Kingdom: Plantae
-
-
Phylum: Magnoliophyta
-
-
Class: Magnoliopsida
-
-
Order: Dipsacales
-
-
Family: Adoxaceae
-
-
Genus: Sambucus
-
-
-
-
-
-
