Blue Elderberry, Blueberry Elder        sam-BEW-kus ser-U-lee-ah

• Broadleaf deciduous (nearly evergreen mild climates) tree or large shrub,15-30 ft (9-15 m) high, may form a thicket, has pithy stems.  Leaves opposite, pinnately compound, 15-25 cm long, 5-7(9) leaflets, each 5-15 cm long and 1-5 cm wide, narrowly ovate or lanceolate, unequal at base, coarsely serrate, bright green (a variable species).  Flowers yellowish-white, 5-lobed, 6 mm wide, in many branched, flat clusters.  Fruit 6 mm, dark blue with whitish bloom, edible, but not very palatable, makes a good jam, pie, and wine.
• Sun, prefers forest-edge location and moist soils.
• Hardy to USDA Zone 4       Native from British Columbia east to Montana and Utah, south to California and N. Mexico.  Shrubs in the genus Sambucus are the only ones found in the Pacific Northwest forests that have both opposite and pinnately compound leaves.
• caerulea: dark blue
• Oregon State Univ. campus: in open area behind Dixon Lodge.
• Corvallis: River Front Park, along walkway south of VanBuren Ave.