What’s an elderberry?
Elderberries are small, dark berries that grow in clusters on elder trees (also called elderberry bushes). Elderberry bushes are a hardy plant growing native in many climates, often in the moist soil along roadsides and streams. They’re fast-growing and typically grow quite large and full, with compound leaves and tightly clustered bunches of tiny white flowers in late spring, followed by clusters of berries in late summer. The berries are a favorite of wildlife (especially birds) and are said to have many health benefits for humans too.
In the absence of my own photo gallery, which isn’t up yet, you can find a page of good photos here.
What are the different kinds of elderberry?
There are many different varieties of elderberry bushes, but I’ll focus here on the most common.
The European Elder, or Sambucus nigra (also called Black Elder or Common Elder), is found throughout warmer parts of Europe and North America. The berries are black to dark blue, and it’s the type of elderberry most frequently used in recipes and retail extracts and syrups.
The American Elder, or Sambucus canadensis (also called Sweet Elder), is also used in recipes and said to be slightly sweeter than the Sambucus nigra variety. It’s found in many climates, including most of North America east of the Rocky Mountains. Depending on who you ask, the canadensis is technically a sub-set of the nigra variety, but nurseries tend to list them as a separate species, so best to think of it as its own species for the purposes of choosing which types to plant together.
The red-berried elder, or Sambucus racemosa, grows throughout the cooler parts of North America, but the berries, when ripe, are a bright red color. According to some sources, it is poisonous unless carefully seeded and cooked, but I’ve seen many more accounts that say the red elderberry contains toxins regardless of what’s done with it. So without being a horticulturalist or a doctor, my advice for anyone just starting would be to stick with blue, black or dark purple elderberries, and leave the reds alone.
What parts of the plant can I use?
The white flowers of the elderberry bush have been used in many things; pressed into tonics, brewed into wines and champagne, lightly battered and fried into fritters, or stirred into muffin or sponge cake mix for a light, sweet flavor.
The ripe berries, cleaned and cooked, can be made into many things: extracts, syrups, pies, jams, or used as garnish, dye or flavoring. The leaves, twigs, stems, roots and unripe berries of all elderberry plants are not edible, and contain toxins that can make a person quite sick. Ripe berries and flowers only!
Do elderberries have seeds?
Elderberries have tiny seeds that tend to stay crunchy even after cooking. These seeds can result in a slightly gritty taste when whole berries are used in recipes, but they are edible and don’t need to be removed before cooking or eating. (For this reason, many people like to cook elderberries in conjunction with other fruits, like apples or pears, to produce a milder flavor and smoother texture).
Can I eat the berries raw?
Some say that as long as they’re ripe you can eat them uncooked in small quantities, but most sources maintain that berries need to be cooked to fully remove all the toxins. (In addition, elderberries are really quite bitter until they’ve been sweetened with sugar or honey.) Again, as the non-doctor giving advice, I’d err on the side of caution and make sure your elderberries are washed and cooked. On the plus side, I’m collecting quite a few elderberry recipes here, so there should be no shortage of ways to cook them.
Are elderberries good for you?
Science answers this with a hesitant “we think so,” but traditional use and plenty of newer studies on this say a resounding YES! Elderberries contain potassium and large amounts of vitamin C, and have been proven in quite a few recent studies to shorten the duration of cold and flu symptoms, as well as strengthen the immune system.
Elderberries are also a good source of anthocyanins, powerful antioxidants which are responsible for giving many red and purple fruits their color.
45 responses so far ↓
1 Donna Dawson // Mar 18, 2008 at 1:41 pm
I appreciate the information on teh difference between the kinds of Elderberry Bushes. I do know that the dired leaves mixed with lanolin help relieve burns and sunburns.
2 Brian M // Jul 10, 2008 at 2:21 pm
I have eaten raw elderberries on many occasions, though no more than several handfuls, No Ill effects.. Native variety in Redding CA, large shrub to 15 ft or so, multi trunked, fully ripe, with a powder like coating……
3 Shelly // Jul 22, 2008 at 10:21 pm
I have eaten the raw berries and was tremendously ill.
4 Elle // Jul 23, 2008 at 3:46 pm
Can someone help me? I’ve heard that freezing the elderberries in a large paper bag after picking them & then shaking the bag vigorously, removes all the berries from the stems. Has anyone heard of this method? Thanks!
5 Ulrich Young // Jul 26, 2008 at 5:09 pm
Elle, I have frozen with stems and then destem, it works pretty good , but if they thaw while your destemming them, they are harder to get off the stem, and you will end up with a lot of very small pieces of stem that are hard to get out.
6 Alistair // Aug 4, 2008 at 6:22 pm
My wife and I were out tonight walking the dog and on the way back, I stopped to pick just two blue -black elderberries to see how the tasted.
It’s a good job I didn’t eat them on the outward leg of our 3-mile hike. Within 20 minutes I had pretty serious diarrhea!
OK, it’s not certain that the berries were the cause but I don’t usually have that problem with ‘normal’ food.
Incidentally, they tasted fairly sweet and I really enjoyed the crunchy seeds. I’ll be picking some soon to make jam but will pass on the uncooked berries.
7 Lynn // Aug 17, 2008 at 7:07 am
This site says that the leaves and stems are toxic. Is it OK to boil the fruit on the stem if you just want the juice? Thanks
8 Mary // Aug 20, 2008 at 5:58 am
I grew up with my mother making elderberry jam and I am passing it on to my children and theirs. They love elderberry jam and I remove the seeds by a cheese cloth. I hear tell the leaves stem and roots were once used as a mustard pack for sore muscles and aches and pain
9 Pootin // Aug 21, 2008 at 3:21 pm
When I was a little girl my mother would make Elderberry wine for the holidays. Today on the way home from New Orleans my husband and I saw some on the side of the interstate. We stopped and we picked some. Today I began process of making Elderberry wine so that my husband can have the same experience I had as a child growing up in the country.
10 Victoria // Aug 24, 2008 at 5:24 pm
I have been picking plenty of black elderberries from my yard this afternoon and I am going to make elderberry jam and elderberry wine tonight with my harvest. Thanks for all the great recipes on this site.
11 Larry // Aug 26, 2008 at 5:45 am
I have eaten the black elderberry raw with no ill effects. But I ate no more than a handfull at a time. When I was a boy our family was poised to go on a fishing trip. I was very sick with flulike symptoms the day before leaving. My great uncle suggested warmed elderberry wine mixed with black pepper which I took. I sweated all night and next morning was feeling fine enough to go on the trip.
12 maria boyer // Aug 26, 2008 at 6:09 am
I have taken some photos and want to know if this is an elderberry or not. I have never had one and it just started growing in my garden one day. I live in oviedo florida. Where did this plant come from, it looks like a small tree.
13 sarah // Sep 3, 2008 at 4:40 pm
I”ve been collecting elderberries this year and am occasionally hesitant because of the variety of color in the stems. Any stem colors to avoid when picking ripe berries?
14 Caroline // Sep 5, 2008 at 8:49 am
Euggghh! I’m just recovering from a hideous toxic poisoning after having consumed a mere two sips of raw elderberry juice. It would appear that there are two types of black elderberry - the european one and another, (latin name: S. racemosa ssp. pubens var. melanocarpa), which abounds in N. America and which our plant book says is similar to the red elderberry, which is definitely not palatable! My partner drank more than me and was not sick at all. Does anybody know how to tell the difference between these types and indeed have any advice about proceeding to make wine with the said juice? Will it lose its toxicity through the brewing process? Should it be cooked? Should it be binned? One point to consider is that we put some stalks through the juicer…I now understand these are to be avoided…please help! Any insights would be gratefully received! Despite the wretchedness, I’m keen to make wine!
15 Marty // Sep 6, 2008 at 10:37 am
The harvest from our bushes this year has been incredible on the shore of the St Lawrence River in the 1000 Islands of upstate New York. Past years I had to fight with the birds for a small share of the berries. I am inspired by the site to make my first attempt at making some pies and will have still have some with my yogurt in the morning.
16 Larry // Sep 10, 2008 at 7:10 am
Besides using elderberries in pies, I have used them in a waffle batter. When you put the waffles in the waffle iron the heat will sufficiently cook the elderberries to remove any toxins. Taste is similar to blueberries.
17 Melissa // Sep 13, 2008 at 3:41 am
I have just found this tree at the bottom of my garden, please can someone tell me if it is an elderberry. The picture is on my website at: http://www.merijeta.co.uk/elder
18 Mape // Sep 14, 2008 at 10:26 am
I am looking for a recipe to can elderberries and apples together like my grandmother used to. Does anyone have such a recipe or can make any suggestions as to modifying an existing recipe?
Thank you, Mape
19 Carmen // Sep 17, 2008 at 8:12 am
Melissa, that definitely looks like an elderberry. Nice plump looking berries too.
20 steve // Sep 20, 2008 at 2:08 pm
remove berrries with a fork realy works well steve
21 Kevin // Sep 22, 2008 at 7:44 pm
I am currently in the process of making elderberry wine. If anyone would like a few tips or pointers on what I have found works for me I would be happy to help! Send me an e-mail to mrkd42066@yahoo.com with ‘wine recipe’ in the subject line and I’ll do my best to help out any way I can.
22 Matt Rocke // Sep 24, 2008 at 10:35 am
To Mape: I’ve been making some elderberry jam this week, and this is one of the recipes I’ve been perusing. It includes crab apples which are small dry bitter ones, so you may have to modify it ever so slightly.
Recipe by ‘Ann Way’:-
http://www.oxford.anglican.org/page/2258/
23 tom // Sep 24, 2008 at 11:04 am
I have just made elderberry wine for the first time and my stirring spoon is very sticky. How do I clean this stuff off ?
TOM
24 Brenda // Sep 24, 2008 at 2:25 pm
does anyone know when we should see berries??? I ordered 10 plants, and they will be 1 - 2 feet tall when we get them.
25 Kit // Oct 20, 2008 at 3:10 am
two years ago I started using eldeberries as an easy source of antoxidants (it is suggested but not proved). I boiled the berries, still on their stems in bunches, strained the pulp, added lots of sugar to a setting temperature of 220F, but it did not set. So I drank it in hot water as a pleasant breakfast drink, better than coffee, I thought. The next year I used “jam sugar” and it set into a nice jam, but I am still drinking it with hot water every day. Unaware of toxins I boiled the minor stems with the berries and I have never had any trouble with my daily brew.
They are plentiful, and much easier to collect than blackberries. I simply put a small bucket under each bunch and snip with scissors.
26 Susie Johnson // Oct 23, 2008 at 10:24 am
I live in Northern Michigan. What kind of elderberry has a red stalk, like rhubarb? Not a tree, but more like a bush.
27 Maynette Wilson // Nov 18, 2008 at 9:16 am
I have a jar of elderberry jelly have not opened it yet. Wonder if it is okay to eat. I have never heaar of Eldeberry Jelly before wonder if it is toxic. Thanks
28 Chris Farrugia // Nov 29, 2008 at 3:30 pm
I was wondering if anyone would be able to tell me the Medical Properties of Elderberries
29 John Davis // Nov 30, 2008 at 7:47 pm
We have a light blue elderberry with a dusty-looking surface in Eastern Oregon that I have eaten raw for decades. They are bitter until down into the fall, then they aren’t so bad. I’ve never had any ill effects. There are many different kinds of elderberries, and it is my understanding that not all can be eaten. I grew up in this area and kids would eat them whenever and wherever they were found with no ill effects that I know of. Ours is Sambucus cerulea, according to what I’ve read. According to wikipedia, it is also known as Sambucus caerulea and Sambucus glauca.
30 Al // Jan 1, 2009 at 2:41 am
For 12 years I ate elderberries raw and by the handful during the summer..we would pick them by the bushels for our mother to make jams…she boiled them down with the stems on then strained the stems out…If you are getting sick from eating them raw maybe you should wash them first…eating any fruit raw from the side of a road is not good…all of the car exhaust blowing on them plus who knows what is being sprayed on them legally and illlegally…My brother and I would eat on average 4 PB&J (elderberry) sandwiches daily…up until I left home at the old age of 18…we very rarely had any other jam in the house that was bought…Now at the ripe young age of almost 50 my father slides me a jar or two each year…because of a slower metabolisim I have drastically cut back on sandwiches…Also…when I have French Toast…I only use elderberry jelly…no syrup…So there you have it…becareful on harvesting them…and wash, wash and wash to ensure they have been cleaned…
31 paul // Jan 11, 2009 at 7:49 pm
hi iv just gotin a few cuttings of a bush. the berries appear to be a dark purple with a redish tinge to the juice could some one please lets me know if these are suitable for wine. i plan to grow the cuttings too. so any growing techniques would be appreciated as well. i live in australia bones7181@gmail.com
32 Dannie // Jan 23, 2009 at 11:20 pm
Hi;
For a class project, I am supposed to cook an old-time Appalachian dish and I chose Elderberries as my base. I plan on either making a pie or maybe some jelly and biscuits. (I vaguely remember my grandmother making Elderberry pie when I was very young but that was quite a while ago since I’m in college now!) My question is, where can I find a source for Elderberries this time of year and also what type of berries would be suitable for pies or for making jelly? Would dried berries work OK? I have made pies and jellies out of dried apples and dried cherries before but didn’t know if elderberries should be treated differently. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
33 jilli roberts // Feb 13, 2009 at 4:50 pm
I have some ripe elderberries ready to go in the garden (it’s fall in Australia). Does anyone have a recipe for a chutney or similar savoury side dish using elderberries?
Jilli
34 Guy // Mar 17, 2009 at 8:58 pm
I’ve got three elders grown from one small purchased plant - sold to me as Sambucus nigra, which to me they all look like.
Plants are in the 2nd year of growth and flowing well. However, the flowers are completely void of any fragrance? Have i been sold an ornamental species? I’m in Australia…
35 Joe Wilson // Mar 29, 2009 at 12:16 am
For those interested in growing elderberries, check out http://www.elderberrylife.com. Terry Durham is from central Missouri and is growing the berries commercially. There is also a fair amount of research being done thru Missouri Extension by Patrick Buyers and Andrew Thomas. Terry has plants and cuttings for sale on the web site.
36 joe // Apr 24, 2009 at 6:14 pm
Black market elderberries for sale. Top of the line breeding! Contact me but be descrete!
37 Laureen // May 5, 2009 at 8:50 pm
Hi - Wondering if anyone can tell me what kind of Elder trees grow on the central coast of California. I have found some trees and was very excited about using the flowers but the leaves look different than in the photos I’ve seen…more serrated edges. I’ll be so bummed if these aren’t edible.
38 Twilitestar // Jun 10, 2009 at 3:05 pm
Melissa,
I do not believe the the photo you have shown is an elderberry.
If you carefully look at photos of elderberries, they have a flat surface when flowered.
The photo you have looks like a tall weed that is poisonous. Notice the bright pink. That is what is unique to the weed.
39 Sedrick // Jun 12, 2009 at 1:18 pm
My studies thru out this year becuase of the influenza all over the world has brought up many detains here in the village books and other websites.
The 1919 Spanish Influenza (which i have no idea why its called that becuase it started in USA first) Anyway.. thru out the mountains of the Spanish Pyrenees and French Pyrenees mountains there was NOT NEARLY THE COUNT OF people that died. Where in both countries many people died in cities and countrysides. They contribute alot to the Elderberry wine and extacts and teas they used. So U decide.
40 Alice // Jul 3, 2009 at 1:24 pm
What an interesting site! It took years, but I finally got rid of the buckthorn in my Minnesota backyard and, after a couple of years of nothing growing, an amazing crop of elderberry bushes appeared. They are beautiful and bushy and obviously love it here. Unfortunately, the berries are red but they sure are beautiful!
As for eating elderberries raw, we used to have a large bush in Wisconsin where I grew up. My sisters and I ate them by the handfuls and never had a problem. Maybe people have different tolerances for them or maybe we worked up an immunity during all those years of “sampling.”
41 Life // Jul 16, 2009 at 11:15 pm
Hey the elderberry that grows in the central valley is sambucus mexicana they are great to eat but in need of restoration they used to grow everywhere but have been mostly eradicated, its sad an important endangered beetle depends on them…
if you live in the valley it be a good idea to grow them in your yard…
they sale them at native nursery…
http://www.cnplx.info/nplx/species?taxon=Sambucus+mexicana
our you can easily grow them from seed…
when grown the plant will reward you with lots of yummy sickness fighting fruit.. plus lots of pretty birds..
do your part, it matters…
42 Annie // Aug 9, 2009 at 2:53 pm
We used a juicer to remove the juice, put the smaller stems in along with the berries. The most sticky, gooie, stuff collected at the top of each jar. We had to use some Goo be gone to get the stickiness off of the juicer. We scooped off the stickiness off and then strained it through cheese cloth. Does anyone know if it is now safe to use for jelly or wine?
43 Jaye-Andrea // Aug 15, 2009 at 9:26 am
Hi,
My son has a serious case of mono. I went online researching natural cures to complement his doctor’s orders. I found that elderberry is a good anti-viral. I bought an anti-viral formulation with elderberry and sent it to my son. He says that the results are amazing. He reports that the supplement has helped him to heal. He is now back to work full time. I would like to learn more about elderberries. I just moved to West Virginia and would like to find a place to pick them, and maybe even try growing them. Just thought you’d all be interested in hearing about the amazing effects of elderberry on mono.
44 Gabriel, England // Aug 20, 2009 at 7:14 am
I’ve Been making elder flower champagne every year since I was 12 years old, 19 years. I highly recommend it. water, elderflowers, sugar, lemon juice wine yeast, nothing else. cork it when you get down to one bubble every 15 seconds. wire the cork down and leave it for a month. bobs yer uncle!
45 Rob // Aug 24, 2009 at 9:15 am
Just got back from a backpacking in Montana, and ate handful of berries. Ended up with constant diaherra(sp) with no upset stomach. When it ran through the process, I was fine. No after effects. I have eaten the berries on other trips with no effects. In the future, I’ll eat a smaller portion.
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