Elderberries

Elderberries, both Blue and Red, were gathered by Indigenous Peoples and boiled or steamed into a sauce that was dried over fires and stored in cedar containers. Red Elderberries bloom early in the Spring and as their red berries ripen, the Blue Elderberry blooms. The Red vs. Blue cycle in the Gardens sees an 85 day’ lag between the two. Both were used to create an alcoholic drink; and both elderberries are still used by hobbyist winemakers today. In the Gardens, having both the blue and red species established, we find “they continually move about” sprouting here and there each Spring as they are also a favorite of the native birds that are returning in-mass to the Gardens (native birds favor native fruits/insects), leaving seeds askew at random. Mature specimens are found by Kiosk 13 and by the small stumps at the Gardens south-end gate on the Hall Road; PLC’s sponsored WWU SAM Project’s extinction probability is slight, <.000001%. (Note: a non-native third species may also be found in our area: the Black Elderberry, introduced from Europe.)

https://ucanr.edu/sites/Elderberry/Indigenous/
http://naeb.brit.org/uses/search/?string=Sambucus
https://www.plc215.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Kiosk-13.pdf
https://biology.burke.washington.edu/herbarium/imagecollection/taxon.php?Taxon=Sambucus%20cerulea
https://biology.burke.washington.edu/herbarium/imagecollection/taxon.php?Taxon=Sambucus%20racemosa
https://biology.burke.washington.edu/herbarium/imagecollection/taxon.php?Taxon=Sambucus%20nigra

The Black Elderberry is a:

non-native
exotic (botanical term)
both of the above

Comments, content, questions appreciated; email bb@plc215.org