Elderberry (Sambucus spp.).
This is a woody shrub growing 6 to 10 ft (2 to 3 m) high and forming colonies from underground runners. Generally, elderberry bushes prefer open areas in the rich moist soils surrounding ponds and along ditches and streams. The stems are thick and are filled with a white pith. The leaves are opposite, pinnately compound, and with lanceolate serrated leaflets. It has conspicuous, terminal, round or flat-topped clusters of white five-petaled flowers about 3/ 16 inch (4 to 6 mm) in diameter. Drooping clusters of dark purple (S. canadensis) or red (S. racemosa), juicy edible berries with several seeds form from July to September.
|
|
|
|
