Elderberries and Elder Trees

Elderberry Flower, Elderberry Blow

Photo by Emmy Ulmschneider

By Emmy Ulmschneider, Master Gardener

It is spring and my elder or elderberry tree, Sambucus nigra ssp. cerulea is in full bloom.  These beautiful white blooms bring back memories from before I lived in Texas.  Growing up, elders were common in the area where I lived.  Euell Gibbons introduced me to the culinary delights of their fruits, the elderberries, which he describes in Stalking the Wild Asparagus.  While visiting him, we sampled elderberry jelly, syrup and delectable fritters made from elder blow, the beautiful edible, white flowers from the elderberry tree.  So, I was delighted to finally find a local source and plant not one but two Mexican elderberry trees in my back yard.   And each year since I freeze the fresh beautiful purple-black fruit for jams and jellies and dry some of the fruit for sauces and chutneys, or for blue elderberry muffins.  But don’t try the fruit raw or uncooked! Elderberries are high in alkaloids which can cause nausea; cooking degrades these alkaloids.

Humans, around the world, have long recognized elders for food, healing, and material goods.  The branches and stems have been used as arrow shafts. The soft inner pith of the stem is easily removed, and the hollow stems became blow guns, combs, and spindles as well as musical instruments like flutes, whistles, and clapper sticks.  The genus name Sambucus honors this legacy:  a sambuca was an ancient Greek wind instrument made from elder wood. Interestingly, elderberries are often the first natural pioneers on strip mine sites. 

But humans are not the only ones who appreciate this small tree.  In the wild, Mexican elderberry, and elderberries in general, are found commonly in riparian habitats along stream beds.  There they can stabilize stream banks as well as provide food and cover for the terrestrial and aquatic wildlife found there.  In my yard, spring blooming elderberries attract butterflies and in summer, when the elderberries are ripe, the trees seem to come alive with the movement of birds and squirrels feeding on the ripe fruit.  The elder tree can be pruned as an upright small tree.  Left unchecked, the overarching nature of the branches droop downward providing the perfect shelter from the hot sun in summer or cold winds in winter.  This tendency means it is not a landscape tree for a front lawn.

Plant your elderberry in moist soil, part shade to full sun. Elderberries grow quickly.  If you want to hasten that growth, give them more water!  My elderberries bloom in the spring and seem to be blooming earlier each year.  Harvest the fruit throughout the summer, when the berries have ripened from light blue to blue- black.  Ripe berries often have a white powdery bloom making them appear powdery blue.  To save or use the berries, detach them from the stems the long way by picking them or the quick way by rubbing them over a sieve or wire mesh. Freezing them first helps. 

If you are looking for a tree to bring life to your yard and food to your table, then try planting an elderberry. 

If you have questions, call the AgriLife office in Odessa at 498-4071 or in Midland at 686-4700.   Additional information, and our blog for access to past articles, is available at westtexasgardening.org.  Click on “Resources.”

Elderberry trees make great cover!

Photo by Emmy Ulmschneider