American Black Elderberry (Sambucus canadensis)

Family: Adoxaceae | Edibility: Choice Edible (4/5)

Sprawling deciduous shrub bearing fragrant creamy umbel flowers in June followed by drooping clusters of glossy, dark purple-black berries.

Edible Parts & Harvest Seasons

Edible Parts: Flowers, Berries

Harvest Seasons: Early Summer, Late Summer, Fall

Flavor & Culinary Uses

Flowers are honeyed and muscatel floral; cooked berries are tart, deeply earthy, rich in blackberry/currant notes. — Flower heads dipped in light batter and fried as elderflower fritters; Elderflower cordial and summer botanical syrups; Berries boiled with raw honey, ginger, and cloves into traditional immune syrup; Wild elderberry jams, pies, and country wines

Habitat & North American Range

Stream banks, moist roadside ditches, woodland margins, and swamp borders. (Zone 3, Zone 4, Zone 5, Zone 6, Zone 7, Zone 8, Zone 9)