Sambucus canadensis

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Distribution Map: Based on vouchered plant specimens only. View county names by placing the mouse cursor over a particular county.

Species Distribution Map
Family:VIBURNACEAE
Species:Sambucus canadensis L.
Common Name:Common Elderberry; American Elderberry; Black Elderberry
Habitat:**
Associated Ecological Communities:**
Growth Habit:Shrub
Duration:Perennial
Category:Vascular
USDA Symbol:**
Plant Notes:Common Elderberry is a native deciduous shrub in the Haw family (Viburnaceae). It can be found throughout Alabama. Common Elderberry occurs on the banks of creek and rivers, on the shores of ponds and lakes, in low woods, and along wet roadside ditches. It is a deciduous multi-trunked shrub reaching heights of 12-15 feet. The bark is gray-brown in color with conspicuous lenticels. The stems are thin walled with a large area of white pith. The leaves are opposite, petiolate, and odd pinnately compound with 7-9 leaflets. The leaflets are lanceolate to elliptic in outline, pubescent along the veins, with serrate margins. The leaves have a rank odor when crushed. Flowers are produced in terminal compound cymes. The individual flowers have 5 white petals. The fruit is a black drupe. The fruit of Common Elderberry are eaten by a wide variety of bird species. The fruit can be made into jelly, jam, or wine. The flowers can be battered and fried to make fritters. Common Elderberry has also been used in herbal medicine mainly to treat breathing problems and fevers. All parts of the plant except the flowers and ripe fruit contain cyanogenic glycoside and are toxic if eaten. Children often make “pea shooters” from the hollowed-out stems of Common Elderberry. Common Elderberry is sometimes available from nurseries. It prefers a sunny site with moist to wet soil. Several cultivars with purple foliage, variegated foliage, double flowers or berry colors other than black are available.—A. Diamond
Taxonomic Notes:**
Status:Native
References:**
Specimen: View specimen details in the Alabama Herbarium Consortium Specimen Database

** Not applicable or data not available.

Classification

FamilyVIBURNACEAE - Haw family
Genus Sambucus
Species Sambucus canadensis L. - Common Elderberry; American Elderberry; Black Elderberry

Citation

Citation Sambucus canadensis Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 269. 1753.
Basionym: **
Type: CANADA: Without data, Kalm s.n. (lectotype: LINN 381.2). Lectotypified by Bolli, Diss. Bot. 223: 168. 1994.

** Not applicable or data not available.

Synonyms

SynonymFull CitationBasionymType
Sambucus canadensis var. laciniata    
Sambucus canadensis var. submollis    
Sambucus nigra ssp. canadensis    
Sambucus simpsonii Sambucus simpsonii Rehder, in Sargent, Trees & Shrubs 2: 187, t. 175. 1911. FLORIDA: Manatee Co.: Bradenton, Jun 1910, Simpson s.n. (holotype: A).

Specimens and Distribution

This species has been reported in the following counties by the herbaria listed. An overview of the individual specimens are provided in the table that follows. Click on the accession number to view details; click on column headers to sort; choose a county or herbaria to filter the specimen data.

Counties included on distribution map: Autauga, Baldwin, Barbour, Bibb, Blount, Bullock, Butler, Calhoun, Chambers, Cherokee, Chilton, Choctaw, Clarke, Clay, Cleburne, Coffee, Colbert, Conecuh, Coosa, Covington, Crenshaw, Cullman, Dale, Dallas, DeKalb, Elmore, Escambia, Etowah, Fayette, Franklin, Geneva, Greene, Hale, Henry, Houston, Jackson, Jefferson, Lamar, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Lee, Limestone, Lowndes, Macon, Madison, Marengo, Marion, Marshall, Mobile, Monroe, Montgomery, Morgan, Perry, Pickens, Pike, Randolph, Russell, Shelby, St. Clair, Sumter, Talladega, Tallapoosa, Tuscaloosa, Walker

Counties represented by specimen data listed below:

Herbaria represented by specimen data listed below: ALNHS, AMAL, AUA, BRIT, JSU, SAMF, TROY, UNA, USAM, UWAL

Range of years during which specimens were collected: 1952 - 2023

Barcode / Accession No.
County
Coll. Date
Collector &
Collection No.
Herbarium &
Herbarium Name Used
Image
AUA000025733 Autauga 4 Aug 1969 OWENS, JAMES R.
097		 AUA
SAMBUCUS NIGRA L. SSP. CANADENSIS (L.) R. BOLLI
TROY000046514 Autauga 02 May 2017 Parker, Matthew R.
724		 TROY
Sambucus canadensis Linnaeus
UWAL0047129 Autauga 02 May 2017 Parker, Matthew R.
724		 UWAL
Sambucus canadensis Linnaeus
UWAL0046131 Autauga 11 May 2017 Parker, Matthew R.
792		 UWAL
Sambucus canadensis Linnaeus
TROY000047397 Autauga 11 May 2017 Parker, Matthew R.
792		 TROY
Sambucus canadensis Linnaeus
UNA00044317 Baldwin 08 Oct 1952 Harper, Roland M.
4227		 UNA
Sambucus canadensis L.
USAM000003471 Baldwin 25 May 1979 Prine, Laura
s.n.		 USAM
Sambucus canadensis Linnaeus
JSU106325 Baldwin 17 Oct 1982 Whetstone, R. David
12894		 JSU
Sambucus canadensis Linnaeus
UWAL0044100 Baldwin 16 Jun 1993 Walker, M.M.
117		 UWAL
Sambucus canadensis L.
SAMF0005790 Baldwin 03 Jun 2015 Davenport, Lawrence J.
5826		 SAMF
Sambucus canadensis Linnaeus
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