Sambucus canadensis

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Sambucus canadensis
Sambucus nigra subsp canadensis - Indiana.jpg
Foliage and fruit
Status TNC T5.svg
Secure  (NatureServe) [1]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Dipsacales
Family: Adoxaceae
Genus: Sambucus
Species:
S. canadensis
Binomial name
Sambucus canadensis
L.
Sambucus nigra canadensis range map 1.png
Natural range of Sambucus canadensis in the United States and Canada
Synonyms [2]

Sambucus nigra subsp. canadensis(L.) Bolli
Sambucus mexicanaC. Presl ex DC [3]

Contents

Sambucus canadensis, the American black elderberry, Canada elderberry, or common elderberry, is a species of elderberry native to a large area of North America east of the Rocky Mountains, south to Bolivia. [4] [2] It grows in a variety of conditions including both wet and dry soils, primarily in sunny locations.

Description

It is a deciduous suckering shrub growing to 6 metres (20 feet) tall. [5] The leaves are arranged in opposite pairs, pinnate with five to nine leaflets, the leaflets around 10 centimetres (4 inches) long and 5 cm broad. In summer, it bears large (20–30 cm or 8–12 in diameter) corymbs of white flowers above the foliage, the individual flowers 5–6 millimetres (31614 in) diameter, with five petals.

The fruit (known as an elderberry) is a dark purple to black berry 3–5 mm diameter, produced in drooping clusters in the fall.

Taxonomy

It is closely related to the European Sambucus nigra . Some authors treat it as conspecific, under the name Sambucus nigra subsp. canadensis. [6]

Toxicity

Inedible parts of the plant, such as the leaves, stems, roots, seeds and unripe fruits, can be toxic at lethal doses [7] [8] due to the presence of cyanogenic glycosides and alkaloids. [9] Traditional methods of consuming elderberry includes jams, jellies, and syrups, all of which cook down the fruit and strain out the seeds.

Unpublished research may show that S. canadensis (American elderberry) has lower cyanide levels than apple juice, and that its fruit does not contain enough beta-glucosidase (which convert glucosides into cyanide) to create cyanide within that biochemical pathway. [10] For comparisons, assuming S. nigra has levels of no more than 25 micrograms of cyanogenic glycosides/milligram of berry weight, [11] assuming all of the glycosides were converted to cyanide, and assuming a toxicity of 50 mg for a 50 kg vertebrate, [12] one would need to eat 2 kilograms (~4.4 pounds) of berries in one sitting to reach the lower limits of lethal toxicity (1 mg cyanide/kg of weight). For the upper limits (3 mg/kg), one would need to eat 6 kg or ~13 pounds.

Uses

The flower, known as elderflower, is edible, as are the ripe berries. [5] A drink can be made from soaking the flower heads in water for eight hours. [5] Other uses for the fruit include wine, jelly and dye. The leaves and inner bark can be used as an insecticide and a dye. [13] The leaves are also traditionally used topically in herbalism.[ citation needed ]

The genus name comes from the Greek word sambuce, an ancient wind instrument, in reference to the removal of pith from the twigs of this and other species to make whistles. [14] [15]

The boiled inner bark of the elderberry was used by the Iroquois of North America as a pain-reliever in tooth-aches, being applied to the side of the cheek that was most virulent. [16]

Related Research Articles

<i>Sambucus</i> Genus of flowering plants

Sambucus is a genus of flowering plants in the family Adoxaceae. The various species are commonly referred to as elder, elderflower or elderberry. The genus was formerly placed in the honeysuckle family, Caprifoliaceae, but was reclassified as Adoxaceae due to genetic and morphological comparisons to plants in the genus Adoxa.

<i>Prunus laurocerasus</i> Species of plant

Prunus laurocerasus, also known as cherry laurel, common laurel and sometimes English laurel in North America, is an evergreen species of cherry (Prunus), native to regions bordering the Black Sea in southwestern Asia and southeastern Europe, from Albania and Bulgaria east through Turkey to the Caucasus Mountains and northern Iran.

<i>Berberis</i> Genus of flowering plants representing the barberry family

Berberis, commonly known as barberry, is a large genus of deciduous and evergreen shrubs from 1–5 m (3.3–16.4 ft) tall, found throughout temperate and subtropical regions of the world. Species diversity is greatest in South America and Asia; Europe, Africa and North America have native species as well. The best-known Berberis species is the European barberry, Berberis vulgaris, which is common in Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, and central Asia, and has been widely introduced in North America. Many of the species have spines on the shoots and all along the margins of the leaves.

<i>Passiflora caerulea</i> Species of flowering plant in the passion flower family Passifloraceae

Passiflora caerulea, the blue passionflower, bluecrown passionflower or common passion flower, is a species of flowering plant native to South America. It has been introduced elsewhere. It is a vigorous, deciduous or semi-evergreen tendril vine growing to 10 m (33 ft) or more. Its leaves are palmate, and its fragrant flowers are blue-white with a prominent fringe of coronal filaments in bands of blue, white,yellow, and brown. The ovoid orange fruit, growing to 6 cm (2 in), is edible, but is variously described as having a bland, undesirable, or insipid taste. In South America, the plant is known for its medicinal properties, and is used by both the Toba and the Maka peoples.

<i>Arctostaphylos uva-ursi</i> Species of fruit and plant

Arctostaphylos uva-ursi is a plant species of the genus Arctostaphylos widely distributed across circumboreal regions of the subarctic Northern Hemisphere. Kinnikinnick is a common name in Canada and the United States. Growing up to 30 centimetres in height, the leaves are evergreen. The flowers are white to pink and the fruit is a red berry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adoxaceae</span> Family of plants

Adoxaceae, commonly known as moschatel family, is a small family of flowering plants in the order Dipsacales, now consisting of five genera and about 150–200 species. They are characterised by opposite toothed leaves, small five- or, more rarely, four-petalled flowers in cymose inflorescences, and the fruit being a drupe. They are thus similar to many Cornaceae.

<i>Aquilegia canadensis</i> Species of plant

Aquilegia canadensis, the Canadian or Canada columbine, eastern red columbine, or wild columbine, is a species of flowering plant in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae. It is an herbaceous perennial native to woodland and rocky slopes in eastern North America, prized for its red and yellow flowers. It readily hybridizes with other species in the genus Aquilegia.

<i>Prunus serotina</i> Species of tree

Prunus serotina, commonly called black cherry, wild black cherry, rum cherry, or mountain black cherry, is a deciduous tree or shrub of the genus Prunus. Despite being called black cherry, it is not very closely related to the commonly cultivated cherries such as sweet cherry, sour cherry and Japanese flowering cherries which belong to Prunus subg. Cerasus. Instead, P. serotina belongs to Prunus subg. Padus, a subgenus also including Eurasian bird cherry and chokecherry. The species is widespread and common in North America and South America.

<i>Sambucus ebulus</i> Species of flowering plant

Sambucus ebulus, also known as danewort, dane weed, danesblood, dwarf elder or European dwarf elder, walewort, dwarf elderberry, elderwort and blood hilder, is a herbaceous species of elder, native to southern and central Europe and southwest Asia. The species is a well-established archaeophyte in much of the UK, and is also reportedly naturalized in parts of North America.

<i>Solanum americanum</i> Species of flowering plant in the nightshade family Solanaceae

Solanum americanum, commonly known as American black nightshade, small-flowered nightshade or glossy nightshade, is a herbaceous flowering plant of wide though uncertain native range. The certain native range encompasses the tropics and subtropics of the Americas, Melanesia, New Guinea, and Australia.

<i>Podophyllum peltatum</i> Species of flowering plants belonging to the barberry family

Podophyllum peltatum is an herbaceous perennial plant in the family Berberidaceae. Its common names are mayapple, American mandrake, wild mandrake, and ground lemon. It is widespread across most of the eastern United States and southeastern Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edible flower</span> Flowers that may be consumed safely

Edible flowers are flowers that can be consumed safely. Flowers may be eaten as vegetables as a main part of a meal, or may be used as herbs. Flowers are part of many regional cuisines, including Asian, European, and Middle Eastern cuisines.

<i>Nandina</i> Genus of flowering plants belonging to the barberry family

Nandina domestica commonly known as nandina, heavenly bamboo or sacred bamboo, is a species of flowering plant in the family Berberidaceae, native to eastern Asia from the Himalayas to Japan. It is the only member of the monotypic genus Nandina. It is widely grown in gardens as an ornamental plant with a number of cultivars that display bright-red fall foliage in the cool months, and attractive new foliage growth in spring. Although a popular ornamental shrub, the berries are toxic to birds, especially towards the end of the winter when other food sources become scarce.

<i>Sambucus nigra</i> Species of flowering plant in the moschatel family Adoxaceae

Sambucus nigra is a species complex of flowering plants in the family Adoxaceae native to most of Europe. Common names include elder, elderberry, black elder, European elder, European elderberry, and European black elderberry. It grows in a variety of conditions including both wet and dry fertile soils, primarily in sunny locations. The plant is widely grown as an ornamental shrub or small tree. Both the flowers and the berries have a long tradition of culinary use, primarily for cordial and wine.

<i>Sambucus racemosa</i> Species of plant

Sambucus racemosa is a species of elderberry known by the common names red elderberry and red-berried elder.

<i>Sambucus gaudichaudiana</i> Species of plant

Sambucus gaudichaudiana, commonly known as white elderberry, is a species of flowering plant in the family Adoxaceae and is endemic to eastern Australia. It is a perennial shrub but with stems that are produced annually with pinnate leaves that have three to eleven leaflets, small white flowers and small but edible fruit. It grows in cool forest and shady gorges.

Sambucus mexicana may refer to the following North American black or blue elderberry species:

<i>Sambucus cerulea</i> Species of tree

Sambucus cerulea or Sambucus nigra ssp. cerulea, with the common names blue elderberry and blue elder, is a coarse textured shrub species of elder in the family Adoxaceae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prunasin</span> Chemical compound

(R)-prunasin is a cyanogenic glycoside related to amygdalin. Chemically, it is the glucoside of (R)-mandelonitrile.

<i>Sambucus pubens</i> Species of flowering plant

Sambucus pubens, the American red elder, is a species of elder (Sambucus) native to eastern North America. The inflorescence is a rounded panicle, making the plant easy to distinguish from the more common S. canadensis, which has a more open, flattened corymb. Some authors have considered S. pubens to be conspecific with S. racemosa L.

References

  1. "NatureServe Explorer 2.0 - Sambucus nigra ssp. canadensis, Common Elderberry". explorer.natureserve.org. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  2. 1 2 "Sambucus canadensis". Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Agricultural Research Service (ARS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 26 December 2017.
  3. "Sambucus nigra ssp. canadensis (L.) R. Bolli". ITIS Report. ITIS. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
  4. "Sambucus canadensis L." Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  5. 1 2 3 The Complete Guide to Edible Wild Plants. United States Department of the Army. New York: Skyhorse Publishing. 2009. p. 53. ISBN   978-1-60239-692-0. OCLC   277203364.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  6. "Sambucus nigra". Integrated Taxonomic Information System.
  7. Peterson, Lee Allen (1977). Edible Wild Plants: Eastern/Central North America. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. p. 172. ISBN   0-395-92622-X.
  8. Preston, Richard J.; Braham, Richard R. (2002). North American Trees: Fifth Edition. Ames, Iowa: Iowa State Press. p. 199. ISBN   0-8138-1526-6.
  9. "Sambucus canadensis". North Carolina State Extension.
  10. "The Essential Herbal Blog: Elderberry - New Research". 15 March 2020.
  11. "Fig. 7 Concentration (µg mg −1 FW) of CNGLCS. Sambunigrin (A) and".
  12. Oke OL. 1969. The role of hydrocyanic acid in nutrition. World Rev. Nutr. Diet. 11:170–98
  13. "Sambucus canadensis". Plants for a Future .
  14. Niering, William A.; Olmstead, Nancy C. (1985) [1979]. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers, Eastern Region. Knopf. p. 448. ISBN   0-394-50432-1.
  15. Little, Elbert L. (1980). The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees: Eastern Region. New York: Knopf. p. 670. ISBN   0-394-50760-6.
  16. Kalm, Pehr (1772). Travels into North America: containing its natural history, and a circumstantial account of its plantations and agriculture in general, with the civil, ecclesiastical and commercial state of the country, the manners of the inhabitants, and several curious and important remarks on various subjects. Translated by Johann Reinhold Forster. London: T. Lowndes. p.  338. ISBN   9780665515002. OCLC   1083889360.