Elder Close

A low tree or shrub, though they can grow up to 30ft (9m) tall, the elder is cultivated largely for its fruits and flowers, which are rich in Vitamin C and commonly used to make wines and jams. Its flowers are also used to make tea. The most common variety (sambucus nigra) hosts white flowers and black berries. Its flowers, along with the leaves and bark, were further utilised to provide dyes: blue or lilac from the former and green and black respectively from the latter parts.

Indigenous to the UK, the elder thrives in rich, neglected soil where the nitrogen content is high, for instance near abandoned dwellings, in churchyards and around badger setts and rabbit warrens. The breakdown of organic matter, such as dung and refuse, in these places enriches the soil, while the seeds are spread in the droppings of birds which eat the berries.

EH 04 November 2006