racemose – with flowers in racemes (unbranched, elongated inflorescence with flowers maturing from the bottom up)

Native range: North America & Eurasia

Leaves:

• opposite
• pinnately compound with 5–7 lanceolate leaflets
• leaflets ovate to elliptic

Flowers:

• dense flat topped umbels, or elongate panicles or racemes
• white flowers
• ~ bluish
• perfect
• 5 petals
• 5 stamens

Fruit:

• red or black (interior variety)
• only edible after being cooked (Avoid fruit as a ‘trail snack’)

Other characteristics:

• herbaceous perennials, deciduous shrubs or trees
• stems deeply furrowed and lined
• pithy, light inner wood easily hollowed out

Relevant info:

• wood used to make flutes and small instruments
• ethnobotanically important to many native tribes across North America
• Native Americans used fruits as food and extracts from the roots and/or bark for medicinal purposes
• another native species, S. cerulea (blue elderberry), has 5–9 leaflets, flat-topped clusters of flowers, and whitish-blue fruit

Ecology & Adaptations:

• widely distributed throughout much of Washington
• ranging throughout North America, except the southern States
• found in stream banks, swampy thickets, moist clearings and open forests from sea level to middle elevations
• pollinated by bees, flies, and wind
• seed dispersal – despite toxins that are problematic for ruminants, such as deer, the fruits are eaten by birds, eastern fox squirrels, white-footed mice, northern raccoons, American black bears, brown bears, and grizzly bears, which aids in seed dispersal
• vegetative reproduction:
  • spreads by rhizomes and root suckers to form colonies
  • sprouts from the root crown and/or rhizomes after top-kill by fire.
• herbivore defense:
  • stems, bark, leaves and roots contain cyanide-producing glycosides
  • cyanide is toxic to animals because it prevents hemoglobin from releasing its oxygen to tissues
• fire-adapted:
  • fire can crack red elderberry’s hard seed coat, aiding germination
  • perennating buds on root crown are protected by mineral soil
• adapted to wetlands – lenticels (pores in stems) and hollow stems enable oxygen to be transported from the air to roots/rhizomes below ground
• succession:
  • establish best on open, disturbed sites
  • commonly establishes in canopy gaps within mature forests
  • tolerates shade, so may persist in late-seral post-fire stages
• wildlife:
  • birds and mammals eat berries
  • fly species consume pollen
  • porcupines, mice and snowshoe hares consume buds and bark in winter
  • elk, deer, mountain goats, and bears browse leaves and branches
  • shrubfields provide habitat for grizzly bears
  • passerines and other birds build nests and perch
  • on streambanks, provide shade cover for fish