Anyone who does not cultivate elderberry in the garden likes to collect the berries and flowers in the wild. We have compiled the most common occurrences so that you can find the popular trees and shrubs without a long search.

One of the most common shrubs in Central Europe

Black elder does not make it difficult for its friends to locate it in the wild. Although it is also represented in India, West Siberia, Asia Minor and North Africa, it is one of the most widespread shrub species in our latitudes. Here you should keep an eye out for the mighty wild fruit trees:

  • in forest clearings under the canopy of tall deciduous trees
  • along sunny to semi-shady embankments and roadsides
  • on the nutrient-rich ruderal areas of abandoned farms, railway stations and similar terrain
  • on weed fields with nitrogenous loamy soil, often associated with stinging nettles
  • in the low mountain ranges and the Alps up to an altitude of 1500 meters

Since elderberry is considered to be extremely resistant to urban climates, it is often planted in a targeted manner on the central reservation of motorways in order to overgrow there. Collecting the berries and flowers at these locations is initially life-threatening. In addition, it does not make sense, since the crop is not suitable for consumption. The enormous biomass of an elder assimilates the exhaust gases and stores them in all parts of the plant.

Risk of confusion with poisonous dwarf elder

In the wild, there is a high risk of confusion between edible black elder and poisonous dwarf elder. At first glance, the berries of both types do not show any differences. While black elderberry fruits provide healthy indulgence when cooked, dwarf elderberry berries retain their toxicity. How to tell the difference:

  • poisonous attich thrives herbaceously up to 150 centimeters high
  • the inedible berries have a dent
  • Dwarf elderberry umbels stand upright
  • the narrow leaflets are up to 15 centimeters long

A majestic black elder, on the other hand, is woody and stretches up to 7 meters in height. Its oval, objectively arranged leaves clearly differ from the leaflets of the parakeet. The same applies to the equally harmless elderberry, which thrives in similar locations but is much less common when out and about. Its red berries, on the other hand, harbor the risk that their seeds still contain toxic glycoside after cooking.

tips and tricks

For our ancestors, elder had magical powers. They saw in him a tree of life that protects the house and its residents from evil forces. That is why the elderberry bush is still an integral part of the plant community in many home gardens.

GTH

Category:

Vegetable garden