Red Elderberry         sam-BEW-kus ra-se-MO-sa

• Deciduous large shrub or small tree, 6-20 ft (2-6 m) high, soft pithy twigs.   Leaves opposite, pinnately compound, 5-7 leaflets, each 5-17 cm long, 2-6 cm wide, ovate or lanceolate, acuminate, sharply toothed, unequal at base, bright green, often somewhat hairy below.  Flowers yellowish-white, 5-lobed, 6 mm wide, in clusters that are pyramidal to dome shaped.  Fruits bright red, not edible when raw, but when cooked they make a good jam, pie, and wine.
• Sun and part shade, in habitat prefers forest-edge location and moist soils.
• Hardy to USDA Zone 5       Native to Europe, Asia Minor, Siberia, western Asia, and much of North America.  A number of botanical forms (f. or var.) are listed.  For example Hitchcock and Cronquist (1973) state that American plants are the subspecies pubens with four var. in the Pacific Northwest.
• racemosa: referring to the type of inflorescence, having flowers in racemes.
• Corvallis: River Front Park, east side of walkway and north of the fountain plaza.