Native Garden Plant Factsheets

Red Elderberry (ȾIWEKIȽĆ / t̕ᶿiwəq̕íɬč)

Illustration by Sabrina Saenko

English Name(s): Red Elderberry, also Red-Berried Elder, & Red Elder
Scientific Name: Sambucus racemosa
SENĆOŦEN Name: ȾIWEKIȽĆ (bush), ȾIWEK (berry), ȾIWK (cluster of berries)
lək̓ʷəŋən Name: t̕ᶿiwəq̕íɬč (bush), t̕ᶿíwəq (berry), t̕ᶿiwq (cluster of berries)

Fun Facts:
This shrub grows up to 6 metres tall characterized by its strong odour, soft twigs, and dark reddish-brown bark. Its leaves grow opposite each other, and with 5 to 7 large (5-15 cm) lance-shaped leaflets with hairy underside. It has numerous small white flowers in clusters which become bright red berries with smooth seeds in season.

As the deer ate the ripe berries, Old Skykomish Chiefs ordered the brush where it grew not to be burnt.

Traditional Uses:
Though the raw berries can cause nausea, they provide an important food source when cooked, whether it be boiled to make a sauce or jelly, steamed and stored in water or underground for the winter. Though the roots and bark are poisonous, they were used in tea or chewed to induce vomiting or as a laxative, or applied externally on aching muscles, sore joints, and abscesses. Once no longer fresh however, the hollowed stems could be used as whistles, pipes, and blowguns for children. The leaves are also poisonous and produce a pungent smell when crushed, much like the bark and roots.

Blooms: April to July
Season: July to August
Habitat: Moist sites like streambanks, swampy thickets, moist clearings & meadows, and open or shady forests
Range: Throughout Europe, temperate parts of Asia, and the US & Canada except in the Far North, Central US, or Southern US

Further Sources:

http://nativeplantspnw.com/red-elderberry-sambucus-racemosa/
Saanich Ethnobotany by Nancy J. Turner & Richard J. Hebda
Plants of Coastal British Columbia by Jim Pojar & Andy MacKinnon

Report abuse