The black elderberry (Sambucus nigra) is a versatile plant, but be careful: it should not be confused with the poisonous dwarf elderberry. Black elderflower flowers can be harvested in early summer and the berries ripen in mid-summer. However, not all parts of the plant are edible raw. In this article you will find out which parts of the plant are poisonous and which can be safely consumed.
Are elderflowers edible raw?
Elderflowers are available from early May to late June and can be eaten raw. Flower buds, for example, are often eaten cooked in dough such as Holler cakes, or with syrup, jelly, and so on Elderflowers Processed lemonade. You can also sprinkle raw elderflowers without green shoots on the salad. This is a great decoration. However, fine flowers do not last very long. They wilt quickly and must be processed immediately after harvesting.
Edible or poisonous?
It is often not easy, especially for beginners, to decide whether plant parts are edible or poisonous. For this reason it is advisable to take a guided herbal tour. The best way to learn to recognize any poisonous plants is in practice, because you can see the plants in their natural environment, touch them, feel them and even smell them. If you don’t have the opportunity to do this, you can also find useful videos on the Internet. We have also made numerous videos on edible wild herbs and medicinal plants. You can find them on our YouTube channel “Kräuterkeller” (Sign up here for free).
Dried elderberry flowers
Elderflowers are especially useful in winter as they can be used to treat colds. You can do it in this article laws.
This is why it is advisable to stock up on them Winter gather. Cut the flower buds with scissors and first place them on a tray so that animals hiding there can escape. You can then continue to dry them in the shade or alone The automatic door Give. If you want them to remain raw quality, you should dry them at a temperature below 40 degrees. Since they are brewed with hot water for tea anyway, you can consider whether you need to dry them raw or whether you need to dry them a little faster. You can also achieve faster drying by removing as much of the green parts of the flower as possible.
It is best not to eat raw elderberries
It is best not to eat raw black elderberries. Although some herbal medicine books state that they can be consumed raw in small quantities, we do not recommend it. In larger quantities they can cause nausea, vomiting or diarrhea. This is due to the cyanogenic glycosides it contains. The berries contain mainly the glycoside sambunigrin. Together with Waterfall If the concentration of hydrocyanic acid is weak, the berries should be consumed. Heating causes these elderberries to decompose and can be excellently processed into a juice. A recipe for Sugar-free elderberry juice we have in the article “Process elderberries correctly: sugar-free elderberry juice«written.
The berries can also be made into jam, jelly or syrup. All of these recipes involve heating the berries. To do this, elderberry should be heated for 15-20 minutes to above 80 degrees.
Other slightly poisonous parts of the elderberry plant
The leaves, raw stems, unripe fruits and seeds of ripe elderberries also contain small amounts of glycosides. Aside from the flowers, you should not eat any of the elderberries raw.
Risk of confusion with the attic
In nature there is a risk of confusion. The dwarf elderberry (Sambucus ebulus) or parakeet is poisonous in all its raw forms. You should avoid it because it also contains hydrocyanic acid glycosides. The berries in particular are poisonous, even if cooked. To distinguish between dwarf elderberry and black elderberry, you should look at the growth habit. Dwarf elderberry is a herbaceous plant. Black elderberry is woody. However, the distinction can be seen most clearly in the berries. In the dwarf elderberry they grow upwards, while in the black elderberry they hang down. Dwarf elderberries also have a slight bruise that black elderberries do not have. They are almost uniformly round. If you think about the name, it should also be easier to distinguish. The dwarf elderberry remains relatively small and usually does not exceed 1.5 m. The leaves are also narrower and shorter than true elderberry.
Native wild plants identifiable with certainty
You can also find many other native plants in our popular herb book “With wild herbs and medicinal plants all year round“(available here). If you want to collect wild herbs and medicinal plants and want to know which herbs can be found in nature throughout the year, then our book is just the right guide for you. Our goal is to get you excited about wild herbs so you can use them more in cooking or as teas. Nature gives us many great things, we just need to learn to recognize them and reuse them. This means that the ancient knowledge of medicinal plants will not be lost. In our herb book, local medicinal and wild plants are listed according to the seasons and described very clearly with photos we took. In addition to information about the location, purpose and use in the kitchen or medicine cabinet, there are also recipes that we have developed so that you can use the herbs comprehensively. Our book is written and designed by ourselves. If you want our book or one of the other products developed by us, you can only
Know when to harvest wild plants
Many plants can be harvested over a longer period of time, but some can only be harvested at a specific time. Sometimes you miss your pickup time. Elderberry flowers in late spring and the berries ripen in August. From time to time we missed harvest time. We thought it would be great to have an overview, the time, which herbs you can harvest in which month. Here’s how the idea came about, first Seasonal calendar of wild herbs (available here) to be developed. Of course it also contains garlic mustard and shows which plants are particularly common and in which month. The seasonal wild herb calendar is also available in our Herb Witches online store www.die-moderne-Kräuterhexe.de available.
Comparison between black elderberry and dwarf elderberry
To clarify the difference once again: the berries of the black elderberry hang downwards, while the berries of the dwarf elderberry grow upwards.
Discover wild herbs with the whole family
It is also very important for us that children also discover nature and learn again how precious it is. That’s why we have one Explorer book for children with the title «Ben and Mara discover the world of wild herbs“(available here) written. The children’s book is also available in our herbalist’s shop www.die-moderne-Kräuterhexe.de
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Every day on our Instagram channel we show new tips and information directly from nature. Follow us now and accompany us in our experiences in the garden, in the woods and on the meadows. You can also ask us questions directly here. We always respond and try to respond as promptly as possible. We look forward to exchanging ideas with you. By subscribing to the respective channel you can support us even without paying anything and you will see what we collect almost every day. We can’t wait to see you. The best way to subscribe to us is here:
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