OUR MISSION: As our climate changes, ACER supports communities with grassroots initiatives to plant trees, and educates on how to measure, monitor and report on tree health and growth

Trees or Shrubs: Common Elderberry

Latin Name: Sambucus canadensis L.

General Description: Very small trees or large shrubs of eastern Canada.

Leaves: 5-11 leaflets, last leaflet often largest, leaflets 5-15 cm long, sharply toothed, short-stalked.

common elderberry leaves and stem

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Twigs: Pith white.

Fruit: Purplish-black, mature in fall, edible.

common elderberry fruit

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Flowers: white, grow in broad flat clusters, appear in midsummer after leaves have appeared.

Sources used: Trees in Canada by John Laird Farrar (1995).