Sambucus canadensis L.
Synonyms: = S. nigra ssp. canadensis, S. cerulea, S. glauca, S. mexicana
Common names: Elderberry, elder, Mexican elderberry (ssp. canadensis), blue elderberry (ssp. caerulea), sauco, sureau
Cahuilla: hun-kwat (Barrows 1967:42) / hunqwat (Bean and Saubel 1972:138)
Cherokee: ko?sɑgá / ko?sʽɑgá (Banks 1953:121)
Concow: nō-kōm-hē-in’-ē (Chesnut 1902)
Flathead: ćkwik-alkshkw (Hart 1979:276)
Calpella/Potter Valley/Little Lake: kit-tā’ (Chesnut 1902)
Hocąk: hicocox – “hollow stem” (Kidscher and Hurlburt 1998:361)
Dakota: chaputa (Gilmore 1977: 63)
Gosiute: pa’-go-no-gwĭp (Chamberlin 1911:380)
Klamath: slō’-lös (Coville 1897:104)
Little Lake: ga-lū’ bu-kī’ (Chesnut 1902)
Omaha-Ponca: wagathahashka (Gilmore 1977: 63)
Pawnee: skirariu (Gilmore 1977: 63)
Menominee: papaskitcî’ksi känax’tîk (Smith 1923:21)
Meskwaki: pakwana’mîshi̥ʰ / papasikana’ʔtîk / popoki’mînûni̥ʰ – “berry” / pakwananoke’ kotêk – “berries of the elder” (Smith 1928:207,256)
Osage: bapoki hi – “popping blackhaw plant” (Munson 1981:238)
Wailaki: chin-sök (Chesnut 1902)
Yokia: bä-tē’ kä-lā’ (Chesnut 1902)
Yuki: kē-wē’ (Chesnut 1902)
Location in Texas: all TX; present and not uncommon in Travis Co.
Form: shrub, tree; perennial.
Notes – many authors, including in the current USDA Plants Database and BONAP, have confusion in their classifications and namings of
Sambucus canadensis, S. cerulea, S. nigra, andS. racemosa. Sambucus nigra is native to Europe and has been introduced to parts of the northeastern US. Sambucus racemosa is native to both the US and Europe, but does not occur wild in Texas, being mainly found in the Rocky Mountains and westward, northern Appalachians, and Great Lakes. Sambucus canadensis is native to most of north America but does not occur in the Great Basin or Pacific Northwest (UT, NV, ID, OR, or WA). Sambucus cerulea is only in west Texas (Big Bend area), and all westward states, especially in the Great Basin and Pacific Northwest.
I have personally found that Sambucus canadensis and S. cerulea can be used interchangeably for many below uses, including eating the fruits, using the flowers for tea, and using the wood for pipes and flutes.
Food
Fruits – eaten by the Shasta (Dixon 1907), Klamath (Coville 1897:104), Dakota, Omaha, Ponca, Pawnee (Gilmore 1977: 63), Haudenosaunee (Parker 1910:96), Kashaya Pomo (Goodrich et al. 1980), Calpella, Concow, Little Lake, Wailaki, Yokia, Yuki (Chesnut 1902), Flathead (Hart 1979:276), Cherokee (Banks 1953:121), Cahuilla (Barrows 1967:63, Bean and Saubel 1972:138), Houma (Speck 1941:60), Kiowa (Vestal and Schultes 1939:52), Meskwaki (Smith 1928:256), and folk in northern Mexico (Bourke 1895:43,51).
Fruits were eaten fresh and raw, or were dried for the winter, or were made into pies, canned, and jellied (Chesnut 1902, Gilmore 1977: 63, Goodrich et al. 1980, Smith 1928:256). They were boiled, then eaten, or sun-dried, or made into jam by the Flathead (Hart 1979:276). They were used for jellies and other foods by the Cherokee (Banks 1953:121). They were made into sauce by the Haudenosaunee (Parker 1910:97).
The Cahuilla gathered large quantities (Barrows 1967:63, Bean and Saubel 1972:138). The fruits were dried for storage, then cooked into a rich, sweet sauce to eat (Barrows 1967:63, Bean and Saubel 1972:138). Fruits were stored in pottery jars for use year-round (Bean and Saubel 1972:138).
Flowers – dipped into hot water for a pleasant tea by the Dakota, Omaha, Ponca, and Pawnee (Gilmore 1977: 63).
Flowers & fruits – a decoction of desert holly (Acourtia nana), plus flowers and fruits of elderberry, bark of one-seed juniper (Juniperus monosperma), and bark of live oak (Quercus sp.), was boiled, honey added, and drunk by the Mexican Kickapoo to treat asthma or persistent cough (Latorre and Latorre 1977:349).
GS – flowers: early to mid-summer (Goodrich et al. 1980). Fruits: July and August (Barrows 1967:63); late summer (Goodrich et al. 1980).
Notes – WARNING: the plant parts other than the berries are toxic / poisonous (Bean and Saubel 1972:138). The plant contains cyanide compounds, including unripe fruits. Ripe fruits have lower concentrations of the cyanide, and they can be ensured to be safe to eat by cooking or drying first.
Medicine
Flowers – an infusion was used to break a fever by the Kashaya Pomo (Goodrich et al. 1980), other Natives in Northern California (Chesnut 1902), the Menominee (Smith 1923:22), and Cahuilla (Bean and Saubel 1972:138).
An infusion, preferably of the older blossoms, was also drunk by the Cahuilla for upset stomach, cold, and the flu (Bean and Saubel 1972:138). A preparation was taken internally by the Little Lake to stop lung bleeding in cases of tuberculosis (Chesnut 1902). The flowers were made into a lotion by Natives in Northern California that was used for fevers, sprains, and bruises, or made into an antiseptic wash for itch and for open sores in domestic animals (Chesnut 1902).
Flower stalks were dried by the Kashaya Pomo in the sun, then put in a bag and shaken till the flowers fell off (Goodrich et al. 1980). Dried flowers were commonly kept in homes of Natives in Northern California (Chesnut 1902).
Fruits – considered by the Haudenosaunee to be a valuable medicine for fever (Parker 1910:97).
Bark – a decoction was used by the Houma as a wash for parts affected by pain and swelling (Speck 1941:60).
Inner bark – is a strong emetic, but was used by Natives of Northern California on rare occasions (Chesnut 1902). A preparation of the inner bark was taken by the Cherokee for stomach ailments (Banks 1953:121). A teaspoon of the inner bark in a cup of hot water was drunk by the Hocąk as a “quick physic” (Kidscher and Hurlburt 1998:361), possibly referring to it quickly working as a laxative or emetic. The inner bark from young shoots were used by the Meskwaki as a diuretic and laxative (Smith 1928:207). An infusion or decoction of the bark was drunk by the Meskwaki “only in extremely difficult cases of parturition, when the baby is born dead” (Smith 1928:207).
Bark & roots – a decoction was drunk by the Cherokee for diarrhea (Banks 1953:121).
Roots – a decoction was used by the Kashaya Pomo as a healing lotion on open sores and cuts (Goodrich et al. 1980). A decoction was drunk by the Cahuilla to treat constipation (Bean and Saubel 1972:138).
Root bark – used by the Meskwaki “to free the lungs of phlegm” (Smith 1928:207).
GS – root: late summer to fall (Goodrich et al. 1980).
Material
Fruits – the bunches of berries were used to dye split Rhus aromatica stems a purplish black color for the wrap in coiled grass basketry by the Cahuilla by soaking the stems in water infused with the berries for a week or so (Barrows 1967:42, Bean and Saubel 1972:138). They were used for basketry dye by the Caddo (LaVere 2006:92).
Stems – used for a yellow or orange basketry dye (Bean and Saubel 1972:138). The pith was punched out of sections that were crammed full of [presumably cooked and dried] Mormon crickets (Anabrus simplex) by the Snake Indians (Coville 1897:104).
Wood – the very soft pith (innermost wood) was used as tinder by Indians in Mendocino Co. for fire starting with flint and steel (Chesnut 1902). The soft wood was used as a spindle for friction fire starting (Chesnut 1902). Sticks with the pith removed were used by the Kashaya Pomo and Mendocino Co. Natives for making syringes or squirt guns, whistles, flutes, and clapping sticks, the latter consisting of a split stick wrapped together at one end which was held and the other end struck against the palm or leg (Chesnut 1902, Goodrich et al. 1980).
Large stems were made into popguns by the Dakota, Omaha, Ponca, Pawnee (Gilmore 1977: 63), Osage (Munson 1981:238), Menominee (Smith 1923:76), and Meskwaki (Smith 1928:268).
Stems were made into flutes by the Flathead (Hart 1979:276) and Cahuilla (Bean and Saubel 1972:138).
The hollowed stems were made into blowguns by the Houma (Speck 1941:60).
GS – wood: fall. (Goodrich et al. 1980).
Experimentation
I have eaten the fruits many times, and their flavor ranges from sweet and a bit tangy to rather insipid. I prefer to snip off entire umbels of fruits with scissors and allow them to fall into a basket. I dry the entire umbels in the sun and shake them to remove the dried fruit from the umbel stems.
The flowers make a mild, pleasant tea.
I have often gathered branches that have died and dried on the tree to use for flutes and pipes. I have smoked out of elderberry pipes for many years, and they are my favorite species to use for the purpose since their natural shape lends themself to this use conveniently. I cut them at a branch juncture and use the branch stump as the bowl and the main stem as the main pipe stem. I simply scrape off the bark, carve out the pipe bowl, remove the soft pith from the main stem with a screwdriver or the like, and connect that tube with the bowl using a nail or something.
The pith from branches that have died and dried on the tree makes an excellent tinder.
The stems make good arrows given their tendency to grow straight, round shoots, although they can be somewhat difficult to straighten.
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