Plant an elder tree near your home and it will offer you protection and good fortune, but never harm or cut down an elder tree. Always ask for permission when cutting wood from an elder tree. Drink elderflower tea to cure a fever. Use elderberries to treat a cold.
The beliefs surrounding and uses of elders (Sambucus nigra L.) are manifold and have left their traces throughout human history. Written evidence of the uses of elderberries as an herbal remedy dates back to antiquity, and archaeological findings of elder seeds in the regions now known as Austria, France, Italy, and Switzerland indicate that the tree was cultivated as early as the Stone and Bronze Ages.
The tree is considered sacred and cursed in different folkloric traditions, such as Germanic and Slavic folklore. However, its significance and uses reach beyond the medicinal and magical: In the Catalonian region of Pallars, for instance, thick elder branches are used in agriculture to support grape vines, and the trunk, branches, and roots are historically used to produce fertilizer. The berries can be used to make blue and purple dyes, the leaves for yellow and green, and black dye can be won from the bark.
Elder in Folklore
Often, the elder tree is associated with bad luck which may – at least in part – stem from overlaps or confusion with blackthorn (Prunus spinosa). In Great Britain and Ireland, people warned against falling asleep under an elder tree lest you never wake up. Folklore also tells us that cutting down or otherwise harming an elder tree would result in bad luck which resulted in customs such as asking the tree—or the spirit residing in it—for permission before cutting elder wood. Yet, at the same time, an elder tree growing near the home would grant its residents protection and good luck.
Many of these beliefs are tied to witches, deities, or spirits. According to these beliefs, it is unlucky to touch the wood of an elder tree after dark since witches possess and guard elders. In Poland, the flowers would be harvested on St. John’s Eve (Midsummer) but not after that since they would be contaminated by witches at any point after this day. In some regions, it was believed that the smoke of burning elder branches revealed witches and that a child who was baptized and anointed with the juice of elder bark would be able to see and converse with them.
Similarly, to witches possessing elder trees, the Poetic Edda mentions Svartálfar who chose them as ritual sites due to their affinity for the flowers’ scent. In Denmark, it is said that Hyldemoer (Elder Mother) resides in and watches over the elder tree, and in Germany, forest spirits were believed to dwell in the holes in the wood. They would punish anyone who harmed the tree by making them fall asleep or disappear. At the same time, they might guide travelers who were lost back onto the right path.
In Prussia, Pušaitis—god of the earth—had made his home in the elder tree where he would receive sacrifices of bread and bear meat from farmers twice a year. In exchange for the sacrifice, his servants called barstukai would help the farmers with their harvest. In modern-day Lithuania, the belief still exists that the tree belongs to Belnias or Velas; god of the kingdom of the dead, magic and metamorphosis, black animals, and guardian of the woods. Somewhat related to this association, some believe that the souls of those who die briefly inhabit elder trees before passing on. Thus, the sound of the wind in the leaves originates from the dead sending messages to the living.
Lithuania is not the only country in which there are connections between elder and death. In Ireland, it is said that if someone is killed with a weapon made of elder wood, their hand can be seen reaching out of their grave. In Scotland, elder trees would be planted on graves to prevent the dead from rising again, and in Tyrol, a blooming elder tree on a grave signifies that the soul of the person who is buried there has traveled to paradise.
Medicinal Uses of Elder
While the flowers of the Sambucus nigra L. are generally safe to consume, its berries should always be heated since they contain sambunigrin which may lead to strong nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Similar to black elder (Sambucus nigra L.), the berries of red elder (Sambucus racemosa L.) can be consumed when they are fully ripe and cooked. Despite having historically been used to make wine as well as light blue dyes, the berries of the dwarf elder (Sambucus ebulus L.) should not be eaten at all, however, as they remain toxic even after they’ve been heated.
From left to right: Sambucus nigra L. (black elder), Sambucus racemosa L. (red elder), Sambucus ebulus L. (dwarf elder)
This being said, there are many uses for both the flowers and the berries in the kitchen as well as in herbal medicine. The berries contain large quantities of Vitamin C and the B-vitamin niacin as well as minerals, tannins, and provitamin A. The flowers have beneficial effects due to their essential oils, flavonoids, organic acids, tannins, and mucilages.
Concretely this means that elder contributes to strengthening the immune system. The flowers have a diaphoretic effect—they make you sweat—which helps to treat fever, influenza, and colds by making the sick person “sweat out” their illness. They are good for blood circulation and their mucilages—which help increase bronchial mucus—make them a useful herbal remedy for dry coughs. To treat fever as well as skin conditions, elderflowers are often prepared as tea. To treat earache a fabric sachet is filled with elderflowers. Hot water is then poured over the sachet which is placed on the ear.
The berries stimulate the kidney and are used in folk medicine to treat rheumatism and gout. To treat colds, warm elderberry juice can be used. It can be mixed with cinnamon, cloves, orange and lemon juice, and honey.
Elderberry Tonic
There are many culinary uses of elder: The flowers can be used to make lemonade or sparkling elderflower wine, they can be used to make pancakes, both berries and flowers can be drunk as tea and the berries can be transformed into a sweet-sour juice or jelly. Or you could give this alcohol-free elderberry drink a try...
Ingredients
For 2 glasses
2.5-3 dl of elderberries (fresh or frozen, if you don’t have elderberries available you can replace them with blackberries)
2.5-3 dl of sugar, plus some extra sugar for decoration
A splash of vinegar
2 tbsp lemon juice
150 ml tonic water
An orange
Two sprigs of rosemary
Cinnamon (optional)
Ice cubes
Steps
Prepare the elderberry syrup. To do so, add the elderberries to a pot with vinegar and lemon juice. Cover the berries and let them simmer for a few minutes. Then, strain the mixture to remove the berries from the juice.
Add the elderberry juice back into the pot and add the sugar. You can adjust the amount depending on how sweet you would like your drink to be. Bring the mixture to a boil and let it simmer for a few minutes. Then, set it aside to let it cool down.
Coat the rim of two glasses with orange juice and sugar (optionally mixed with a little cinnamon).
Add ca. 50 ml of syrup to each glass (although you can add more). Add ice cubes and top it up with tonic water. Be careful when adding the tonic water since it foams quite a bit.
Stir your drink and garnish it with orange and rosemary.
Written by Merle Emrich.
Cover photo and elderberry tonic by Merle Emrich.
Sambucus nigra (black elderberry) by Tom Potterfield (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0).
Sambucus racemosa by Tatters (CC BY-NC 2.0).
Sambucus ebulus by Robert Flogaus-Faust (CC BY 4.0).
Sources
Düll, R. & H. Kutzelnigg (1992) Botanisch-ökologisches Exkursionstaschenbuch, Quelle & Meyer: Wiesbaden.
Frohn, Birgit (2007) Lexikon der Heilpflanzen und ihrer Wirkstoffe, Weltbild: Augsburg.
Gafner, Stefan, Travis Borchardt, Melanie Bush, Sidney Sudberg, Nicolas G. Feuillère, Mathieu Y. R. Tenon, Justine H. Jolibois, Pascale J. N. Bellenger, Hong You, Rebecca E. Adams, Jeremy Stewart, Ido Dagan, Timothy Murray, David L. Erickson & Maria J. Monagas (2021) “Tales from the Elder: Aduleration Issues of Elder Berry”, HerbalGram, accessible here.
Inkwright, Fez (2021) Botanical Curses and Poisons: The Shadow-Lives of Plants, Liminal 11.
Kielak, Olga (2024) “From the name to the popular image of the plant: the Polish names for the black elder (Sambucus nigra)”, Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, accessible here.
Vallès, Joan, Maria Àngels Bonet & Antoni Agelet (2004) “Ethnobotany of Sambucus nigra L. in Catalonia (Iberian Peninsula): The Integral Exploitation of a Natural Resource in Mountain Regions”, Economic Botany, accessible here.