Description
Found throughout Michigan, American Elderberry grow naturally along streams, at the edges of cultivated fields and damp places. A member of the Adoxaceae family, it is a woody shrub that is native from Nova Scotia to Manitoba to Texas and through Georgia.
The common elderberry has seven or more leaflets and flowers that appear from June to August. The flowers are creamy-white, flat-topped clusters, that are five to seven inches across. When elderberry shrubs are in full bloom that can be pretty spectacular. The fruit of the elderberry is small, blue to black and really tasty.
Pioneer families used the berries as a staple food source. They can be made into syrups, pies, drinks and birds love them!
