Common elderberry has a long history of uses: for food, for medicine, and much more. There are several varieties and horticultural forms.
For its ornamental qualities, hardiness, wildlife value, and edible fruits, it is a top pick as an edible native shrub for landscaping and naturalizing.
In the landscape, elderberries are hardy and offer large, showy flowerheads and berry clusters. They attract birds and butterflies. They form colonies by spreading via root suckers. Use them in rain gardens and low wet spots, as specimens, and as shrub borders, screens, and backgrounds.
Many parts of elderberry are toxic, and only the berries and flowers are considered edible, if prepared correctly. Proper preparation of the berries breaks down the toxins. It is best to work from proven recipes rather than experiment with the plant.
Native Americans used the fruits for food and medicinally, and they made a pleasant drink by dipping the flowers into hot water.
The berries are used to make pies, jellies, and wine. Many oldtime Missourians used to swear by the medicinal value of elderberry wine. Some commercial wineries today make ersatz “elderberry wine” by adding elderberry flavoring to grape wine; other wineries use genuine elderberries for their product.
A number of Missourians are now cultivating elderberries as a specialty crop, producing syrups, jellies, and wine. A secondary product comes from the flowers, which are used to make a fragrant, sweet syrup. Elderberry products command high prices because of the labor involved in harvesting only the ripe berries from the clusters and then in separating the juicy pulp from the many seeds.
Some people consume elderberry as a health supplement, for its vitamin C, fiber, and antioxidants in the form of phenolic acids, flavonols, and anthocyanins. Many believe it to be effective in treating cold and flu symptoms. Studies are ongoing to determine how effective are the various health claims. This page does not make any health claims, and you should talk to your doctor if you're considering using health supplements.
Fresh elderberries have a bittersweet or tart flavor and should not be eaten raw, especially in large quantities. For use in pies, adding a bit of lemon juice or vinegar improves the flavor. Drying the berries is another way to improve their flavor; dried elderberries can be used in muffins, pancakes, cakes, chutneys, and more, much as you might use raisins or dried blueberries.
The flowers are used to flavor candies and jellies. They are also used to make herbal tea.
Wild edibles enthusiasts dip the entire flowerhead in a flower-and-egg batter and fry it as a fritter, snipping off the heavy stems once the fritter is in the skillet, and topping the fritter with powdered sugar once it’s done.
The tiny flowers can be rubbed off the flowerheads and mixed in with pancakes, waffles, or muffin batters, giving them an enticing flavor.
The dried leaves have been used as an insecticide and to keep mice away from garden plants.
A black dye can be made from the bark. The berries produce a magenta colorant that is used to alter the color of some other beverages and foods.
The woody stems, with the pith removed, once were used as drains in tapping maple sugar. Children have made flutes, whistles, and popguns from them. (Caution: the bark and twigs are poisonous, so they should not be chewed or sucked on or consumed.)
The leaves, young shoots, and buds have been known to poison livestock that graze on them.
The leaves have historically been used to treat sores and tumors. The berries, bark, and leaves have been and still are used as a laxative and diuretic. Elderberry is still used by modern herbalists, who use it to fight influenza, boost the immune system, relieve back, leg, and nerve pain, and treat hay fever and sinus pain.
