Elder (Sambucus nigra)

Edibility:Edible Good

Eating notes: The berries of the Elder plant are mildly poisonous when eaten raw - so always cook them.
They have a good fruity flavour, but also have a large number of small hard seeds. For this reason it is usually sieved Elderberry juice that is used in recipes. Elderberry cordial, Elderberry jelly, Elderberry wine are all popular uses.

A common bush of waste ground, parks and hedges. Even in urban areas you shouldn't have to walk too far to find some Elder.

Height: 3-6m

Leaves: The leaves have 2 or 3 sets of opposite leaflets tipped by a terminal leaflet. Each leaflets is arrow-shapes with a finely-toothed edge. The plants are deciduous.

Flowers: Many large sprays of tiny 5-petalled white flowers. They have a distinctive sweet rich smell.

Stems: Elders grow as large bushes or small trees. The bark is grey-brown cracked and corky.

Fruit: 

Look-a-likes: description