Stats

Lifespan: Up to 60 yrs
Size: Medium
Diet: Photosynthetic
Biome: Temperate forest
Range: North America
Movement: Sessile
Breeding: Seeds
Defense: Toxins
Status: Common

About

A fast-growing native shrub of eastern North America that erupts in wide, flat-topped clusters of creamy-white flowers each summer, then droops under the weight of dark purple-black berries relished by birds and prized by foragers for elderberry syrup and wine — though every green part of the plant is toxic if eaten raw.

Life cycle

1.
seed
A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
2.
sprout
A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
3.
sapling
A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
4.
mature
Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

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Taxonomy

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Dipsacales
Family: Viburnaceae
Genus: Sambucus
Species: Sambucus canadensis