Description & Range

PNW Native

 Ranges along Europe, temperate Asia and North America. Grows from southern Vancouver Island through northern California and inland to the Cascades.

Red elderberry shrubs grow to 6 m /15 ft in height, with dark-red bark, soft twigs, and pungent foliage. Leaves are long (5 - 15 cm / 1.5 - 3.5 in), lance-shaped, arranged in a compound leaf with 5-7 leaflets. Flowers either grow in racemes or pyramidal clusters. Flowers are small, creamy or white, with an unpleasant odor. Fruits are red berry-like drupes, unpalatable, and seedy. 

(PM)

Ecology

Elderberry fruits (elderberries) are widely consumed by numerous animal species and are important staples in the diet of various birds native to the Western US including blue grouse and band-tailed pigeons. Bears, raccoons, white-footed mice, fox squirrels, porcupines, snowshoe hares, and other mammals also consume red elderberries. 
Red elderberry shrubs contain bitter-tasting cyanide, which causes ungulates to skip this plant as browse when more choice plants are available. Use will be likely heavier if white-tailed deer are present, and studies indicate that usage of red elderberry shrubs as browse is more common on the West coast than the East coast. (F) 
Red elderberry grows in open woods, forest margins, montane and subalpine ecosystems, and along roadsides west of the Cascades. Red elderberry is considered toxic, as the stems, roots, leaves, and bark all produce cyanide-producing glycosides that are most potent when fresh. Poisons are most concentrated in the seeds of red varieties of elderberries compared to other subspecies, leading red elderberry to be deemed toxic and darker elderberries to be deemed edible. (LC)

Cultural and Historical Significance

Red elderberries are rich in antioxidant anthocyanins, however the fruits are not palatable for humans without preparation and unripe berries and seeds could cause diarrhea and vomiting. The berries are made into pies, wine, and jelly. Native Americans ate the berries and used the bark in medicinal preparations for fever, influenza, gynecological problems, and tuberculosis. The stems were made into toys, specifically popguns by the Dena ‘Ina and blowguns by the Kwakuitl. (F) 
Berries were steamed before eating on hot rocks, stored in containers either underground or in cool water, and eaten in winter widely amongst the Salish. Powdered and dried leaves or whole boiled leaves were applied to sore joints by the Cowlitz, the Makah pounded fresh leaves and placed them on an abscess or boil, and the Quinault would boil scraped elderberry bark and pour on nursing mothers’ chests to induce greater lactation. Skykomish chiefs forbade controlled burns clearing brush filled with red elderberry because deer were observed eating them. (EG) Nancy Turner documented a Saanich healer inducing labor in a  Hul’qumi’num woman in Puget Sound using a decoction made from red elderberry bark, saving the life of the mother and baby. “These examples are only a few of literally hundreds of oral accounts of the successful application of Indigenous herbal medicines in treating illness and injury and in maintaining health and well-being. Obviously, however, these medicines cannot be used safely without the specialized knowledge of their identification and use that comes with generations of careful observation and experience.” (NT) Red elderberry bark and roots, naturally full of cyanogenic glycosides, is made into a purgative and emetic infusion.  Archaeological evidence of red elderberries have been found at numerous archeological sites along the northwest coast, including the 90,000 seeds at the Ozette site. (NT)

Economics

Red elderberry has utility in restoration plantings, erosion control, revegetation, and ornamental plantings. It has been shown to have a high tolerance for heavy metal contamination, which could have potential in restoration projects of former mines, quarries, and other areas with industrial pollution. Red elderberry has also been shown in labs to exhibit antiviral activity against bovine respiratory virus. The plant is easily propagated from cuttings and grown from seed. (F)