Can I get the truth about elderberries please???

[esp]

I have read and heard both that elderberry stems WITH thorns are not the ones to use, that they are posion, I have also read that the ones with thorns ARE ok?

Does anyone at all have the truth about this?

[crashdive123]

Here is some information from the guy that taught the recent class I took. http://www.eattheweeds.com/www.EatTh..._and_Blue.html

[Rick]

I have no practical experience with Elderberries. My Peterson Guide shows Common Elderberry, Sambucus canadensis, as an edible variety. It does caution that only the flowers and ripe fruit are edible. Roots, leaves, stems and unripe berries will cause nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

[rwc1969]

I've never found elderberries with thorns. But, that link Crash posted has some great info regarding elderberries.

Here's a video I did that shows the common elderberry found here in Michigan which has dark purple berries. If you don't want to watch the whole thing, the elderberry parts are at roughly 4:40 and 6:10 into the video. I eat a few fully ripe berries raw when I'm out and about and have never found any that don't taste great.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEYmn50D-Tc

[gryffynklm]

Thanks for the link Crash.
RCW Thanks

[klickitat]

The elderberries we have in the west are edible and poisonous. We pick, eat and put away juice from the elderberry.

The berry is at it's sweetest after the first frost of the season. The flesh of the berry is good to eat, but the seeds contain arsenic. The flesh contain trace amounts but nothing that will harm you in moderate amounts. In fact small amounts of arsenic was considered beneficial to health in times past and there are some herbalist who still use it.

Elderberries are a black bear food source and I like to locate large groves of them when hunting bears. Also grouse like to sit in the limbs of elderberry bush and eat the berries.

We pick and juice elderberries and then can the juice. It makes a great syrup for pancakes and of course there are those who make wine from them.

BTW: the ones we have out here do not have any thorns.

[Old GI]

My Grandmother made wonderful elderberry jam.

[rwc1969]

My mom used to make elderberry wine. Everyone wanted some. good stuff!

[NightShade]

As far as I know, only blue or purple elderberries are edible... if its blue or purple and its an elderberry.. Than it is safe to eat..

[edr730]

I never heard of elderberries with thorns either. I don't know of anything around here that looks like elderberry. We would pick for a couple long days or more each year. Picked the flower with the berries on them in 5 gal buckets and take them off at home. Haven't done it in many years.

[esp]

As far as I know, only blue or purple elderberries are edible... if its blue or purple and its an elderberry.. Than it is safe to eat..

the plants with thorns have the same blue/purple berries as the ones without.

[esp]

Here is some information from the guy that taught the recent class I took. http://www.eattheweeds.com/www.EatTh..._and_Blue.html

thank you for the great link. The author says the ones with thorns should not be eaten.

Which sucks, because last year before I heard about the whole thorn thing, I made 2 pints of elderberry cough syrup, (the anti H1N1 kind) but they were from the bushes with thorns, so guess I toss it.

I DO have the bushes without thorns as well, so hopefully they will bear this year and I can make more syrup.

Also have heard before as does the author of the linked article that if they have thorns, they are called hercules club, not elderberry, and some sites say that hercules club has medicinal value as well.

But thats another discussion...

[crashdive123]

Thorns or not - I'm not offering advice because I do not know enough about the subject. Glad the link was helpful. Check some other sources and see if they agree.

[rwc1969]

I don't know anything about the thorned berries either, haven't looked at the link to even see what they might be, but it is important to use "multiple" features of a plant for identification and to use multiple sources to back up that information. It's also very important not to use a plant, other than taste testing, until you become intimately familiar with it. And I don't even taste test it until I can safely ID it as edible. "Familiar" to me means being able to spot it from a distance, or to be able to immediately recognise it without having to run down the features in my head, the same way you would ID an orange or an apple.

In the case of common elderberry for me that is; warted branch, pinnately compound finely toothed leaves that are opposite one another, relatively flat topped flower and berry clusters, and easily hollowed out pithy stem and dark purple berries, no thorns anywhere on the plant and growing near a water source. I no longer run down these features in my head, I can tell it from a distance based on the overall look of the plant in season or out. That's what makes me comfortable harvesting it for more than just a nibble, i.e. jam, wine, etc.

[LowKey]

esp, your willingness to eat things not properly identified is a concern.
You have to be very careful with plant common names as well. The Hercules Club that is medicinal is not your plant with thorns. There are several different plants called Hercules Club, Devils Walking Stick, and Devils Club. Some good, some very bad.

You really can't identify plants from the picture information you showed in another thread. You have to get a good local book or key and learn how to use it, then back it up with a visual image from another source. You usually need the whole stem, the leaves attached, and showing all the details of the flower. Most keys won't identify a plant pre-flower or in fruit.

If you can, try to find a local arboretum or nature center that offers plant ID and start there. Once you get comfortable with the local plant families, then you can skip steps.

Edit, sorry RWC. I didn't see the page turn.

[esp]

esp, your willingness to eat things not properly identified is a concern.
You have to be very careful with plant common names as well. The Hercules Club that is medicinal is not your plant with thorns. There are several different plants called Hercules Club, Devils Walking Stick, and Devils Club. Some good, some very bad.

You really can't identify plants from the picture information you showed in another thread. You have to get a good local book or key and learn how to use it, then back it up with a visual image from another source. You usually need the whole stem, the leaves attached, and showing all the details of the flower. Most keys won't identify a plant pre-flower or in fruit.

If you can, try to find a local arboretum or nature center that offers plant ID and start there. Once you get comfortable with the local plant families, then you can skip steps.

Edit, sorry RWC. I didn't see the page turn.

thanks for the advice, but I know this, thats why i am asking questions, i did put up some stuff last year, but since then have made sure of things before anybody eats them. Everyone has to start somewhere.

[rwc1969]

Exactly esp, and there's nothing wrong with making mistakes as long as we learn from them. I just try to let others make the mistakes for me these days. Try being the key word. Unfortunately, with plants and such mistakes can be deadly, painful, or embarrasing, as in rushing to the bathroom and hoping you can make it or sitting at work or school with a bad case of gas.