Feared by the devil. Favoured by foragers. Elder is the very essence of summer with its fragrant flowers and soot-dark fruits. It was said that an elder planted by your house would keep the devil away.
Mature elder trees grow to a height of around 15m and can live for 60 years. Elder is characterised by its short trunk (bole), and grey-brown, corky, furrowed bark. It has relatively few branches.
Look out for: leaves which have 5–7 pairs of leaflets with sparsely serrated edges.
Identified in winter by: the green, unpleasant-smelling twigs which are hollow or have a white pith (spongy tissue) inside. Buds have a ragged appearance, often with leaves showing through the bud scales.
What does elder look like?
Leaves – Pinnate (resembling a feather), with 5–7 oval and toothed leaflets which smell unpleasant when touched or bruised.
Flowers – Borne on large, flat umbels, 10–30cm across, the individual flowers are creamy-coloured, highly scented, and have five petals. Flowers generally appear from late May.
Fruits – After pollination by insects, each flower develops into a small, purple-black, sour berry, which ripens from late-summer to autumn. Elders are hermaphrodite, meaning both the male and female reproductive parts are contained within the same flower.
Not to be confused with: – Walnut (Juglans regia). Elder has oppositely arranged leaves whereas walnut has alternately arranged leaves.
Where to find elder – Elder is widespread in many temperate and subtropical regions of the world. It’s widespread across the UK, growing in woodland, scrub, wasteland and along hedgerows.
It’s often found near rabbit warrens or badger setts, where the animals distribute the seed via their droppings.
Value to wildlife – The flowers provide nectar for a variety of insects and the berries are eaten by birds and mammals. Small mammals, such as dormice and bank voles, eat both the berries and the flowers.
Many moths caterpillars feed on elder foliage, including the white-spotted pug, swallowtail, dot moth and buff ermine.
Mythology and symbolism – It was thought that if you burned elder wood you would see the Devil, but if you planted elder by your house it would keep the Devil away. It is also known as the ‘Judas tree’ as Judas Iscariot is said to have hanged himself from an elder tree. The elder has a strong association with witchcraft and transformation in Britain.