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Sambucus
nigra L.
Standardized Common
Name: European
Elder
Other Common Name: Black Elder
Family: Caprifoliaceae,
Adoxaceae or Sambucaceae
Taxonomy: Sambucus
includes only 9 species but is broadly distributed, with representatives on
every content but Antarctica. The most recent revision recognizes six
subspecies within the widespread S. nigra. Sambucus nigra subsp. nigra
is the common European elder, while
subsp. canadensis (L.) R. Bolli (known as American Elder) is found in
the eastern United States, Canada, and Central America. S. nigra subsp. cerulea
(Raf.) R. Bolli (Blue Elder) from Western North America was previously treated
as a separate species. The South American subsp. peruviana (H.B.K.) R.
Bolli might reasonably be recognized at the species level, since as a
tetraploid it has probably become reproductively isolated. Too many different
specific epithets to list conveniently have been applied to this species;
notably, S. mexicana Presl. ex DC is now considered to fall within S.
nigra subsp. canadensis. Chemical differences support the
recognition of these subspecies, but it is often impossible to tell them apart
without fresh fruits. Thus, they can only be identified by geographic origin: Sambucus
nigra flowers from Europe can be assumed to belong to subsp. nigra,
those in the eastern U.S. to subsp. canadensis, and so forth. Since both
of those subspecies have been spread outside their ordinary range by
cultivation, some uncertainty may remain.
Description: Deciduous shrub or
small tree, 3–10 m high, with shoots arising from base. Bark greyish, corky,
furrowed, with dark rounded lenticels; twigs sometimes pubescent. Leaves
opposite, variable, pinnately compound, usually with 5–7 leaflets, rarely
bipinnate; leaflets lanceolate to ovate, 4.5–12 cm long, with short petiolules;
bases cuneate to oblique or rounded; apices acuminate; margins serrate; midribs
and undersides sometimes weakly pubescent. Inflorescence a large, repeatedly
branched flat corymb, 10–25(–50) cm across, often with 5 divisions at a node,
glabrous except for glandular hairs in axils; pedicels ranging from long to
almost absent; flowers subtended by 3 tiny bracts. Flowers small, 2–4(–6) mm in
diameter. Calyx fused to lower part of ovary, brownish-green, with 5 small
ovate teeth. Corolla rotate or slightly campanulate, with short tube and 5
ovate lobes, creamy white to brownish yellow when dried. Stamens 5; filaments
fused basally to petals; anthers lemon-yellow. Ovary half-inferior, with (2–)3(–4)
capitate stigmas. Fruit a drupe, globose to ovoid, black-purple at maturity,
4–8 mm in diameter, with calyx lobes present at upper end; containing 3–4(–5)
pyrenes (“seeds”); pyrenes variable in shape, ovate to elliptical, oblong or
lens-shaped, 2–4 mm long.
Parts
in Commerce:
Flowers or fruits
Identification: If the inflorescence
is intact, it should be flattened, not pyramidal. The flowers are greatly
shriveled on drying and must be reconstituted with water before examination.
- Flower ca. 2–5
mm in diameter, rarely to 6 mm
- Calyx greenish
brown, with 5 small ovate lobes
- Corolla whitish
when fresh or yellowed, not reddish
- Corolla
disk-shaped to slightly cup-shaped, with short tube and 5 ovate spreading
lobes
- Stamens 5,
attached at base to corolla; filaments narrow; anthers pale yellow, not
reddish; pollen yellow
- Stigmas sessile
at top of ovary, darker than ovary, usually 3 (2–4)
- Taste sweetish,
mucilaginous
Adulterants: Sambucus ebulus L. subsp. ebulus (Dwarf Elder) and S.
racemosa L. (Red Elder) occur in Europe; both should be easily
distinguished from S. nigra. The anthers and petals of S. ebulus
are often reddish. The inflorescence of S. racemosa is pyramidal in
shape, and the petals are often reflexed.
Fruits: The fruits of S. nigra and a few other species are used for
culinary and medicinal purposes. Only the purple- to black-fruited species are
used; these include S. nigra (sensu lato) and S. ebulus, as well
as S. australis Cham. & Schlecht. from South America. Two Asian
species occasionally have black fruits, but are not likely to be found in
commerce. Sambucus racemosa also rarely has dark fruits, which are
smaller than those of most species. The taste of the fruit is sweet and
slightly sour, and the odor is characteristic; other characters are as given
below. Pyrenes are variable within and among taxa and are of little taxonomic
use. (A fruit might be expected to contain as many pyrenes as the ovary had had
locules, but commonly some or even all of the ovules prove infertile and do not
mature.)
Species or
subspecies
|
Origin
|
Fruit shape, size, and color
|
Number of locules
|
Shape of pyrenes
|
S.
australis
|
South America
|
Globose; ca. 6mm; black with greenish flesh
|
5
|
More or less triangular in shape and cross-section, winged on corners
|
S. ebulus
subsp. ebulus
|
Europe, Mediterranean, Quebec
|
Variable; 4-6mm; glossy black with purplish flesh
|
3(-4)
|
Variable, faintly wrinkled
|
S. nigra subsp. canadensis
|
Eastern U.S. and Canada, Central America, where cultivated
|
Usually globose; 4-5mm; immature fruit with prominent ribs, mature fruit first ruby-purple then dark purple to black, with purplish to grayish flesh
|
3-4(-5)
|
Variable, usually with acute apex, faintly wrinkled to smooth
|
S. nigra subsp. cerulea
|
Western U.S. and Canada, Mexico
|
Globose to ovoid; 4-5mm; black, with whitish waxy coating and green flesh
|
3-5
|
Ovate to lens-shaped, faintly wrinkled
|
S. nigra
subsp. nigra
|
Europe, Mediterranean, escaped from cultivation
|
Globose to ovoid; 4-8mm; dark purple to black with purplish flesh
|
3(-4)
|
Variable, conspicuously wrinkled
|
S. nigra
subsp. peruviana
|
South America, Costa Rica and Panama
|
Globose; 5-8mm; dirty purple to black, with purplish, sometimes bitter flesh
|
4-5
|
Ovoid, faintly wrinkled to smooth
|
References:
Bolli R. Revision of the genus Sambucus.
Berlin: J. Cramer; 1994. Dissertationes botanicæ, No. 223.
Ferguson IK. Sambucus. In: Tutin TG, Heywood VH, Burges NA, et al.,
eds. Flora Europaea. Vol. 4. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press; 1976:44–45.
Wichtl M, ed. Herbal Drugs and Phytopharmaceuticals, 3rd English ed. Stuttgart:
medpharm Scientific Publishers and Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press; 2004:546–550.
World Health
Organization. WHO Monographs on Selected Medicinal Plants. Vol. 2. Geneva: World Health Organization;
1999–2002:269–275.
Figure 63: a–b, Sambucus
nigra inflorescence and flower.