Stats

Lifespan: 60-100 yrs
Size: Large
Diet: Photosynthetic
Biome: Temperate woodland
Range: Europe
Movement: Sessile
Breeding: Seeds
Defense: Toxins
Status: Common

About

European black elderberry is a deciduous shrub or small tree native across Europe and western Asia, crowned each summer with broad, flat-topped clusters of cream-white flowers and then heavy drooping bunches of glossy near-black berries. Both flowers and berries have been brewed into cordials and medicines for centuries, though raw unripe berries and leaves contain cyanogenic glycosides that can cause nausea.

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 nigra