Elderberry

Don’t eat them raw

Raw elderberries — and the leaves, bark, stems, and roots of all elder species — contain cyanogenic glycosides that release small amounts of cyanide when consumed. Eating a few raw berries is unlikely to cause serious harm, but more than a handful can cause nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. The toxins are destroyed by cooking to a high enough temperature, which is why every elderberry recipe involves heat.

The red elderberry (Sambucus racemosa) is more toxic than the others and should not be eaten regardless of preparation. Identification matters.

Old-world cold medicine

Elderberry syrup has been used as a folk remedy for colds and flu in European traditions for centuries. Modern research has produced mixed but mildly supportive evidence: a few small randomized trials suggest elderberry extract reduces flu symptom duration by a couple of days. The mechanism is partly attributed to anthocyanins blocking viral attachment to cells.

The evidence isn’t strong enough to call it a treatment, but it’s strong enough that elderberry syrup (concentrated from cooked berries with sugar and sometimes ginger and cloves) remains a popular over-the-counter wellness product.

A useful shrub

The elder shrub itself is one of the most-utilized plants in old European folk culture:

• Berries — cooked into food and syrup.
• Flowers — fragrant, used to flavor cordials, fritters, and the liqueur St-Germain. Fresh elderflower champagne is a homemade summer specialty.
• Wood — light, dense, used historically for whistles and small implements (the genus name Sambucus derives from a Greek word for an elder-wood instrument).

Elder bushes grow easily, often as semi-wild hedgerows. They’re a marker of disturbed ground, fence-lines, and old farmsteads.

Sambuca

The Italian liqueur sambuca is named for the elder plant — though traditional sambuca isn’t actually flavored with elderberries, but with anise (the dominant flavor) and elderflower-derived aromatics. The name persists; the recipe has evolved.

Elder in folklore

The elder appears extensively in European folk tradition. In Scandinavian myth, the Elder Mother (Hyldemoer) was a tree spirit who had to be asked permission before cutting elder branches. Elder wood was sometimes thought to ward off witches, sometimes to attract them. Christ’s cross was sometimes said to be made of elder wood (one origin story for why the tree weeps red sap).