Standard
English Name(s): coastal red elder or elderberry
Local English Name(s) (if different from above): red elderberry
Scientific Name(s): Sambucus racemosa L.
Upriver Halkomelem Name(s): sth’iwuq’ (fruit), sth’iwuq’ulhp
(shrub)
Downriver Halkomelem Name(s): th’iwuq’ (fruit), th’iwuq’ulhp
(shrub)
Island Halkomelem Name(s):
th’iwuq’ (fruit)
Description, Habitat,
Ecology, & Distribution:
Red elderberry is a large shrub to small
tree (to 6 m [ca. 20 ft] tall) that produces creamy white flowers and
large clusters of small red berries. It occurs along streambanks, swampy
thickets, moist clearings, and open forests from sea level to middle
elevations throughout the coast.
Upriver Halkomelem Cultural
Role(s):
Red elderberries were cooked and sweetened
before eating. They were also used as medicine for constipation.
Downriver Halkomelem
Cultural Role(s):
Island Halkomelem Cultural Role(s):
The fruits are edible, but are cooked
before eating.
CAUTION: This species
may be harmful. It produces toxic substances (a poisonous alkaloid and
cyanogenic glycoside) in all plant parts. The concentrations are much
lower in the flowers and unripe fruits, however, and the ripe fruits
are regarded as edible.