Elder (Sambucus canadensis, s.nigra), known as the “people’s medicine chest”, is one of my favorite allies. In my backyard “elder forest” they grow as something between a bush and small trees at a height of 10-13 feet. In June, I use elderflowers in delicious edible and medicinal preparations, but leave plenty of flower umbrels to form berries. Mid August-early Sept. when the berries are ripe, I harvest and make elderberry syrup, oxymels, and alcohol extract (tincture) for immune system support, especially during cold/flu season. * Herbalist Paul Bergner points out that elderberry preparations not only boost the immune system, but also directly inhibit the influenza virus by disarming the virus of its ability to penetrate healthy cells and multiply there.
Elderberries are edible and medicinal, but it’s suggested that you cook them (e.g., in pies, muffins, jams, sauces), or make elderberry syrup, alcohol extract (tincture), vinegars, or wine/meads,etc. There is mildly toxic cyanoglycoside sambunigrin in the leaves and unripe berries; the seeds also contain a resin which can cause nausea and intestinal upset; this resin is destroyed by cooking.
Both elder and pokeweed (Phytolacca americana) have deep dark purple-black berries that can be found in early fall (August to Sept) in most regions. Pokeweed plant is considered toxic and poisonous, unless you are an herbalist or knowledgeable about using it. You wouldn’t want to pick and eat poke berries. Last year, a young woman shared with me that she and her friends were going to pick elderberries on her friend’s land. The next day, she called to thank me for showing her my elderberry bushes, because the berries her friends planned to pick were in fact poke berry. Furthermore, my gardener friend noticed baggies of poke berries mislabeled as “elderberries” at a farmer’s market and informed the seller. 
Every year to avoid the confusion and illustrate the important distinction , I post images of Elderberry (Sambucus sp.) and Pokeweed (Phytolacca americana) on my Prairie Magic Herbals Facebook page. However, I have often heard beginners and others at classes and herb conferences express frustration at the inadequacy of photos in plant identification guidebooks. With that in mind, I hope that these two videos from my garden prove even more helpful in distinguishing elder and poke berry.
Difference Between Elderberry and Pokeweed Part 1 (elderberry)
Difference Between Elderberry and Pokeweed Part 2 (pokeweed)
*All material is for general information purposes only and should not be considered medical advice and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease, condition or symptom.. It does not cover all possible uses, actions, precautions, side effects, or interactions of the herbs/plants discussed and Joanne Bauman, Prairie Magic Herbals assumes no responsibility for the results of self-diagnosis and/or self-medication. If you are on other medications/ drugs, or are pregnant or breastfeeding or have a diagnosed medical condition, please consult your health care professional before taking any herbs/botanicals.
Resources:
“Elder Toxicity”. Henriette’s Herbal Homepage http://www.henriettes-herb.com/blog/elder-toxicity.html
“Sambucus: Elderberry” by Paul Bergner. Medical Herbalism 01-31-97 8(4): 1, 11-12 http://medherb.com/Materia_Medica/Sambucus_-_Elderberry_%28Sambucus_nigra,_canadensis%29.htm
6 Comments
Thank you for this, especially for including both the descriptions and the videos. I recently picked some elderberries that were mostly fully ripe (a few were not deep purple) and made an oxymel with them. If they were not all so deeply purple, and I did not dry them first, will this still be safe? I have read mixed advice on the use of fresh berries, it’s a bit confusing. Thank you!
Thank you for your comments on the article and videos. You’ll be fine with your oxymel! You don’t need to dry berries for making syrup, vinegars, oxymels, tinctures, meads, infused honeys, etc. I prefer making all elderberry preparations with fresh because they are so juicy and you end up with wonderfully deep purple remedies. In essence, your menstruum (e.g.,vinegar,alcohol..) “cooks” or extracts the berries. In the absence of fresh, of course, you can used dried berries for oxymels,syrup,etc. Preparations you make with fresh berries are fine. When picking fresh berries off the stems, those occasional ripening not quite purple more deep red or unripe green berries are bound to mix in. Even if you ate a a few fresh ripe berries straight off the bush, it isn’t going to kill you. My preference is to avoid ingesting more than a few berries straight off a bush. I knew someone who took fresh berries for chutney and instead of following a recipe for cooking it with vinegar, onion,spices and so on,she put the fresh berries in a food processor, added spices and lemon then whirled it! Eating chutney with mascerated seeds that way, gave her the worst intestinal upset. Other plants contain cyanogenic glycosides, such as almonds, peaches, cherries, flaxseed,etc. Here is another Mother Earth Living article with more about cyanogenic compounds in plants”> http://www.motherearthliving.com/Plant-Profile/Inside-plants-Can-cyanide-help-heal-Yes-but-take-care-14-Can-cyanide-help-heal-Yes-but
Elderberry Chutney recipe from Cauldrons and Crockpots
5 cups elderberries
1 cup elderberry juice
2 onions
1 cup raisins
1 apple, peeled and chopped into small cubes
2 cups apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 tsp coriander
1 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 inch ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp mustard seed
2 tsp salt
2 cups sugar
1 1/3 cup sucanat
In a big pot, put all of the ingredients, then turn on the heat and bring it to a boil. Reduce to simmer immediately, and do so for about 3 hours. Once the liquid has reduced dramatically (you still want SOME, but not a soup), and the whole thing looks like a big mushy mess, sterilize your mason jars. Spoon the hot chutney into your hot jars, leaving a half inch space at the top. Seal with fresh lids, and process for 15 minutes in a hot water bath. They’ll keep for a year. Refrigerate once opened.
http://www.cauldronsandcrockpots.com/2012/06/elderberry-chutney/
Most excellent article on the beloved elderberry! I just harvested my first batch of the season! Not that it’s needed but here are a couple of research articles that may be of interest. Thank you!
https://bmccomplementalternmed.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1472-6882-11-16
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15080016
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11399518
I love my elderberry. I take my flu “shot” of elderberry liquid extract, syrup or spiced elderberry wine and haven’t been sick since 2001! Elder is a great diaphoretic (in herbal terms it promotes sweating) to break fevers, colds/flu, respiratory congestion. Elderflower liquid extract or tea is also a favorite especially for lung,respiratory congestion and is a cooling diaphoretic ingredient of Gypsy Cold Care tea (elderflower,peppermint or spearmint and yarrow). Thanks, Lora!
Wow hard to believe you could confuse the two unless you just saw some pokeweed and assumed it was elderberry and didn’t care that you might be eating something poisonous!
Hi Matt, Yes, I think it stresses the importance of plant identification. A reason why herbalists host plant id “weed walks” or “foraging wild plant” walks. Herb conferences are also a good way to get to know plants. Many individuals’ relationships with plants are based solely on reading about them, guide book photos that are not always helpful, or only the form in which the plant is purchased and used (teas, dried, capsules, extracts,etc).