Elderberry Black

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

Black elderberry (Latin Sambucus nigra) - medicinal, ornamental and berry shrub; a representative of the elder genus of the Adoksovye family. Previously, the genus was ranked as a member of the Honeysuckle family. In nature, this culture can be found on forest edges, wastelands, clearings, road shoulders, as well as in the undergrowth of deciduous and mixed forests of Transcaucasia, Europe, North America, North Africa and the Azores. In Russia, it grows in the southern regions, where it is actively cultivated to obtain fruits and medicinal material.

Characteristics of culture

Black elderberry is a deciduous shrub or small tree up to 10 m high (in culture it does not exceed 6 m) with branched stems covered with a thin woody sheath and a rounded crown. Young branches are green at the beginning of growth, later acquire a brown-gray color and are covered with numerous yellowish lenticels.

The bark of the trunks is brown-ash, fissured, deeply furrowed with age. Leaves are compound, green, pinnate, opposite, have a strong and not quite pleasant smell, consist of 6-7 serrated, oblong-ovate and pointed at the tips of the leaves, sitting on short petioles.

The flowers are small, no more than 7 mm in diameter, have a wheel-shaped corolla with fused cream-white or yellowish-white petals and a five-toothed calyx. The flowers are very fragrant, collected in multi-flowered corymbose inflorescences up to 25 cm in diameter.

Fruits - juicy berries - spherical drupes, black, often with a purple tint, contain 2-4 brown wrinkled bones. Black elderberry blooms in late May - early June, fruits ripen in late August - early September.

Application

Black elderberry is one of the most common and popular representatives of the elder family among gardeners. It is widely used in landscape design, the alcohol and food industries, the chemical industry, scientific and folk medicine, and also as an insecticide capable of scaring away pests from neighboring plants with its smell.

Also, the black elderberry is an excellent honey plant. Previously, wood of this type was actively used for the manufacture of musical instruments, toys and crafts. It is important to note that the leaves and stems of elderberry are poisonous, but the berries are quite edible and are often used to make jam, jam, compote and other preparations. Birds readily eat elderberries.

Elderberry fruits are especially actively used in the alcoholic industry; they are often included in berry wines, liqueurs and liqueurs. As a rule, elderberries are combined with other ingredients, such as anise. Often juice is prepared from elderberries, which is used to color alcohol, because it has a rich maroon color. By the way, black elderberry flowers are rich in sugars and essential oils, so they serve as natural sweeteners and flavorings for sparkling wines and cognacs.

In addition to sugars and essential oils, flowers contain tannins, sambunigrin glycoside, choline, altrin glycoside, malic, valerian, caffeic and other organic acids. That is why they are used for the manufacture of drugs that boast anti-inflammatory, diuretic, diaphoretic and disinfectant properties. Tinctures and decoctions of black elderberry flowers are effective for diseases of the oral cavity, respiratory tract, colds and gynecological problems.

Black elderberries are no less useful. They contain resins, ascorbic acid, their own sugars, amino acids, free acids, tyrosine and sambucin. The fruits are useful for humans both dried and fresh. Dried berries are stored in a dry place for up to 6 months. Fresh berries are advised to use for hepatitis, peptic ulcer, neuralgia. Doctors say the fruit is an excellent prophylactic against stomach and skin cancer.

It should be noted that black elderberry is attractive in landscape design. The fact is that the species under consideration is distinguished by its rapid growth and a neutral attitude towards formative pruning. Therefore, it is ideal for creating live, rugged hedges. Shrubs look good in single plantings and in company with other ornamental shrubs. Moreover, today several varieties of black elderberry are presented on the garden market, which are distinguished by a special decorative effect. For example, the Aurea variety is represented by shrubs with yellow-golden foliage, and the Madonna variety is represented by shrubs with green foliage with a yellowish border.