Sambucus racemosa
Credits
Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles
Recommended citation
'Sambucus racemosa' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.
Common Names
- Red-berried Elder
A deciduous shrub, 8 to 12 ft high, and as much through; young bark glabrous, pith white. Leaves pinnate, 6 to 9 in. long, composed of five leaflets, which are oval or ovate, 2 to 4 in. long, 3⁄4 to 13⁄4 in. wide, taper-pointed, sharply and regularly toothed, glabrous on both surfaces. Flowers produced during April in terminal pyramidal panicles 11⁄2 to 3 in. high, scarcely so much wide; yellowish white. Berries scarlet; ripe in June and July; packed tightly in panicles.
Native of Europe, Asia Minor, Siberia, and W. Asia, cultivated in England since the 16th century. This very beautiful-fruited shrub is only occasionally seen in perfection in this country, although it grows well and flowers abundantly. It fruits admirably near Paris, and those who have visited the upland valleys of Switzerland in July will have marked its great beauty there. Whilst not a native of Britain it has established itself in a remarkable way in Scotland. On the slopes of the hills bordering the Tweed in one area, at least, above Peebles, it occurs in broad masses.
It would be an exaggeration to assert that S. racemosa never fruits in southern England, for it has done so in many places, but it cannot be regarded as a reliable fruiter in all areas. Why this should be is uncertain. Some gardeners have reported that fruits form but are taken by the birds before they have coloured. It has also been suggested that some seedlings and clones are self-incompatible, i.e., do not set fruit when self-pollinated, or pollinated by another plant of the same clone. But if we are denied too frequently its attractive fruits, it has on the other hand sported into a number of coloured and cut-leaved forms, which are amongst the best of their class, and thrive well.
'Laciniata'
Synonyms / alternative names
Sambucus racemosa f. laciniata (W.D.J.Koch ex DC.) Zabel
Editorial Note
Treated by Bean as a botanical form. The text below has been adapted to reflect the updated taxonomy.
Leaflets deeply and pinnately lobed, the lobes linear, pointed, not more than 1⁄12 in. wide. This description is made from a cultivated plant of unknown origin, but laciniated plants occur occasionally in the wild (the type of the formerly recognised f. laciniata is a wild plant). See also ‘Ornata’, ‘Plumosa’ and ‘Tenuifolia’.
'Ornata'
The lower leaves of the shoots cut more or less as in ‘Plumosa’, the uppermost more finely laciniated. Raised by Messrs Simon-Louis from ‘Plumosa’, described 1891.'Plumosa'
Leaflets up to 5 in. long and 11⁄4 in. wide, the teeth reaching half-way to the midrib. Put into commerce by Späth in 1886. He received it from Russia.
'Plumosa Aurea'
A wholly golden form of ‘Plumosa’, and one of the most attractive of golden-leaved shrubs. Sent out by Messrs Wezelenburg in 1895, and given an Award of Merit in that year.'Purpurea'
Petals rose-coloured on the back. Mentioned by Sweet in 1826.'Spectabilis'
Flowers nearly pure white.subsp. pubens (Michx.) Hultén
Synonyms
Sambucus pubens Michx.
Sambucus callicarpa Greene
Sambucus racemosa var. callicarpa (Greene) Jeps.
Sambucus pubens var. arborescens Torr. & A.Gray
Editorial Note
Bean treated this subspecies at species rank, as S. pubens.
This American subspecies occurs over a wide area of North America east of the Rocky Mountains. It is distinguished by its young shoots, leaves and flower-stalks being downy, the brown pith, and the fruit-panicles not so densely packed with berries.
The form described by Greene as S. callicarpa replaces the type in western N. America from Alaska to California, characterised by a flatter fruit-panicle and mature leaves that tend to be less downy beneath (yellow-fruited plants are sometimes found); uncommon in cultivation, but evidently a fine shrub in the wild, attaining a height of 20 ft in places.
'Leucocarpa'Synonyms / alternative names
Sambucus pubens var. leucocarpa Torr. & A.Gray
Sambucus pubens f. leucocarpa (Torr. & A.Gray) Schwer.
Editorial Note
Treated - briefly! - as a botanical form by Bean.
Synonyms / alternative names
Sambucus pubens var. leucocarpa Torr. & A.Gray
Sambucus pubens f. leucocarpa (Torr. & A.Gray) Schwer.
Editorial Note
Treated - briefly! - as a botanical form by Bean.
Fruits white.
'Xanthocarpa'Synonyms / alternative names
Sambucus racemosa f. xanthocarpa Cockerell
Sambucus pubens f. xanthocarpa (Cockerell) Fernald
Editorial Note
Treated - briefly! - by Bean as a botanical form.
Synonyms / alternative names
Sambucus racemosa f. xanthocarpa Cockerell
Sambucus pubens f. xanthocarpa (Cockerell) Fernald
Editorial Note
Treated - briefly! - by Bean as a botanical form.
Fruits yellow.
'Sutherland Gold'
A seedling of ‘Plumosa Aurea’, of a less intense gold but said to hold its colour better than does its parent when grown in full sun, and to be more vigorous. Of doubtful value for British gardens. Introduced by W.I. Kerr, from Sutherland, Canada in 1971 (Hillier & Kelly 1995).
'Tenuifolia'
Leaflets divided quite to the midrib into long narrow segments, often doubly pinnate. A very handsome and graceful shrub with fern-like foliage, not a strong grower and therefore useful for small gardens. Of the same origin as ‘Ornata’.var. melanocarpa (A.Gray) McMinn
Synonyms
Sorbus melanocarpa A.Gray
Editorial Note
Bean treated this variety at species rank, as Sorbus melanocarpa.
A deciduous shrub, 6 to 12 ft high, having its flowers and fruits in panicles as in var. racemosa and var. pubens, but the panicles are usually broader in proportion to their height. The berries, moreover, are not red but black, and without bloom. Leaflets five or seven (sometimes nine), their chief veins and midrib more or less downy beneath when young, but not so downy as var. pubens.
Native of western N. America; introduced to Kew in 1894.