Sambucus racemosa L. var. racemosa
Red elderberry, redberry elder, red-berried elder
Red elderberry is a North American native.
Plants: Forms a rounded shrub up to 20′ (6.1 m) in diameter, consisting of many stems emerging from a central point. Upright branches, composed of soft pithy wood, eventually bend into arches.
Leaves: Opposite, in pinnate groups, each 1¾–6″ (5–15 cm) long and about ¾–2″ (2–6 cm) wide, with sharply serrated edges. The leaves, flowers and branches have a disagreeable odor when crushed, smelling like “a cross between skunk cabbage and Ailanthus,” according to Will Cook.
Flowers: Tight umbrella-shaped clusters, white with a pink tinge, about 3–5″ (7.6–12 cm) around.
Fruits: Red elderberry berries are ... well ... red (or, just to keep you guessing, rarely yellow or white). They are up to ¼″ (6.3 mm) in diameter, in dense clusters.
Habitats: Streambanks, ravines, swamps, moist forest clearings and higher ground near wetlands from sea level to 1.8 mi (2.9 km) in elevation.
Edibility: Poisonous 
All parts of the plant, with the
exception of the berries, produce hydrocyanic acid—cyanide!—and are poisonous in significant quantity.
Children have been poisoned as a result of making toys such as pea shooters from the stems.
Many sources list red elderberry berries as poisonous, but some claim they are edible when boiled and processed
into wine jams and wine. (I don’t know about you, but I’m not trying them!)
The berries are relished by many birds. Indigenous peoples sometimes mixed the boiled berries with
other berries to improve flavor, and formed dried cakes for winter use.
 |
Some elderberries. |
While this species is found in the east, a variant, Sambucus racemosa var. microbotrys, is found in the west.
Online References:
Wnmu.edu (Sambucus racemosa var. microbotrys)
8/16/2014 · White Mountains, New Hampshire · ≈ 10 × 7″ (25 × 16 cm) 
6/24/2024 · Otter Brrok Preserve, Harpswell Heritage Land Trust, Harpswell, Maine 
7/12/2015 · Mt. Kearsarge, Wilmot/Warner, New Hampshire · ≈ 6 × 5″ (16 × 13 cm) 
7/12/2015 · Mt. Kearsarge, Wilmot/Warner, New Hampshire 
5/18/2025 · Center Point Preserve, Bowdoinham, Maine · ≈ 1½ × 1′ (52 × 33 cm) 
7/12/2015 · Mt. Kearsarge, Wilmot/Warner, New Hampshire · ≈ 1½ × 2′ (53 × 68 cm) 
10/15/2011 · Mount Wachusett, Princeton, Massachusetts · ≈ 12 × 8″ (31 × 20 cm) 
ID is uncertain 
7/12/2015 · Mt. Kearsarge, Wilmot/Warner, New Hampshire · ≈ 8 × 5″ (19 × 13 cm) 
5/18/2025 · Center Point Preserve, Bowdoinham, Maine · ≈ 9 × 8″ (23 × 20 cm) 
7/12/2015 · Mt. Kearsarge, Wilmot/Warner, New Hampshire · ≈ 7 × 4½″ (18 × 12 cm) 
10/15/2011 · Mount Wachusett, Princeton, Massachusetts · ≈ 5 × 8″ (13 × 19 cm) ID is uncertain 
7/12/2015 · Mt. Kearsarge, Wilmot/Warner, New Hampshire · ≈ 8 × 6″ (20 × 14 cm) 
8/16/2014 · White Mountains, New Hampshire · ≈ 9 × 6″ (22 × 15 cm) 
10/15/2011 · Mount Wachusett, Princeton, Massachusetts · ≈ 7 × 4½″ (17 × 11 cm) ID is uncertain 
6/29/2014 · Mount Agamenticus, York, Maine · ≈ 2½ × 1½′ (79 × 53 cm) 
8/16/2014 · White Mountains, New Hampshire · ≈ 11 × 7″ (28 × 18 cm) 
8/29/2007 · Mt. Mazama Crater Lake Rim Road, Oregon 
10/15/2011 · Mount Wachusett, Princeton, Massachusetts · ≈ 8 × 5″ (19 × 13 cm) ID is uncertain 
7/12/2015 · Mt. Kearsarge, Wilmot/Warner, New Hampshire 
7/12/2015 · Mt. Kearsarge, Wilmot/Warner, New Hampshire · ≈ 8 × 6″ (20 × 14 cm) 
| Kingdom | Plantae | Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae (from Stearn's Botanical Latin) |
| Subkingdom | Tracheobionta | Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients |
| Division | Magnoliophyta | Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms |
| Class | Magnoliopsida | Dicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves |
| Subclass | Asteridae | A large class that encompasses asters |
| Order | Dipsacales | Includes viburnum, honeysuckle, snowberry, beautybush, twinflower, many others |
| Family | Adoxaceae | Elders and viburnums |
| Genus | Sambucus | From Greek sambuke, for a musical instrument made from elderwood |
| Species | racemosa | Like I said “with flowers in racemes” |
| var. | racemosa | Like I said “with flowers in racemes” |
Sambucus racemosa var. racemosa description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.
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