AMERICAN ELDERBERRY & EUROPEAN ELDER
Sambucus canadensis & S. nigra

Height: 6-12’
Width: 6-10’
Hardiness Zone: 3
Exposure: sun
Origin: Eastern United States, South eastern Canada

Description:

American and European Elderberry are large, fast growing shrubs. They are rather open and course textured and often sucker from the base. The small white flowers are borne on large clusters. The small, fleshy fruit are purple-black in color. Leaves are compound with 5-11 leaflets. They can be used in naturalistic settings on large properties as a background planting. The two species are quite similar and some taxonomists are now considering them one species. American Elderberry fruit is used for making jelly, pie, and wine.

Site and Cultural Requirements:

Performs best in full sun and prefers a rich, moist soil. It has fair tolerance to wet soils. Individual stems are often short lived and plants require frequent renewal pruning to keep them looking good.

Insect/Disease Issues:

No serious insect or disease problems.

Cultivars:

S. canadensis ‘Adams’ – has large fruit and planted for used in making jams, jelly and wine.

S. canadensis ‘Aurea’ – new growth is yellow, turning yellow-green as leaves mature.

S. canadensis ‘Laciniata’ – Leaves are deeply cut creating a much finer foliage texture.

S. canadensis ‘Goucho Purple’ – deep pluplish foliage emerges in spring and changes to dark green in summer, then purplish in autumn.

S. canadensis ‘York’ – large fruit and later than ‘Adams

S. nigra ‘Madonna’ – has variegated foliage

S. nigra Black Beauty^TM – has striking black foliage

 

We would like to thank the Landscape Plant Development Center and Minnesota Landscape Arboretum for the botanical information and photos.

 

 

The Brenton Arboretum
Open 9:00 AM until Sunset
Closed Mondays, open holidays
Phone: (515)-992-4211
Email: info@thebrentonarboretum.org