Sambucus nigra subsp. caerulea
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Sambucus cerulea Sambucus nigra subsp. cerulea |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Asterids |
| Order: | Dipsacales |
| Family: | Adoxaceae |
| Genus: | Sambucus |
| Species: | S. cerulea |
| Binomial name | |
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Sambucus cerulea |
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| Natural range of Sambucus cerulea including S. velutina in lighter blue | |
| Synonyms | |
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Sambucus nigra subsp. cerulea |
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Sambucus nigra subsp. cerulea
Sambucus nigra subsp. cerulea
Sambucus caerulea
Sambucus glauca
Sambucus cerulea or Sambucus nigra ssp. cerulea, with the common names blue elderberry and blue elder, is a coarse textured shrub species of elder in the family Adoxaceae.
The taxonomy of this species is not finalized, and it is classified by several different botanical names besides Sambucus cerulea. Both the current USDA database and The Jepson Manual of California flora (2013) classify the plant as Sambucus nigra ssp. cerulea.
The Sunset Western Garden Book identifies the plant as Sambucus mexicana, and note use of Sambucus caerulea also.
The botanist Victor King Chesnut (1867-1938) had classified it as Sambucus glauca in 1902, when studying the plants used by the Indigenous peoples of California in Mendocino County.
Sambucus cerulea is native to the Western United States, northwestern Mexico, and British Columbia. It is found from the Pacific coasts, through California and the Great Basin, to Montana, Wyoming, and Texas.
This species grows at elevations below 3,000 metres (9,800 ft), in diverse habitats of mountains and hills, valleys, riparian zones, open places in woodlands and forests, and exposed slopes where moisture is reachable.
Sambucus cerulea is a large, deciduous shrub, which can grow to be 9 metres (30 ft) in height and 6 metres (20 ft) in width. It is distinguishable from other elderberries by the glaucous powder coating on its bluish-black berries. It normally grows rather wildly from several stems, which can be heavily pruned (or even cut to the ground) during winter dormancy.
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Wikipedia