Image listed at http://caliban.mpiz-koeln.mpg.de/~stueber/lindman/index.html

Image listed at
Kurt Stüber's Online Library
Actual Images from
Project Runeberg


ELDERFLOWER

Latin Name: Sambucus nigra
Family: Caprifoliaceae
Height: Tree - Up to 10m

Elder flower is used in human herbal medicine for colds, flu, allergies and catarrh but also arthritis.

Do not feed the leaves or bark.  The berries need to be cooked for human use and the raw berries are unsuitable for herbivores, although the extract is a rich source of vitamin C and considered a good remedy for flu.

Constituents: Flavanoids, volatile oil, phenolic acids, triterpenes, sterols, mucilage, tannins

Actions: Diaphoretic, anti-inflammatory, diuretic.

Sources: 

Herbs and Wild Plants
Constituents and Actions
Agrimony | Avens | Borage | Calendula | Cats Claw | Celery | Chanca Piedra | Chickweed | Chicory | Cleavers | Coltsfoot | Comfrey | Cornsilk | Dandelion | Echinacea | Elder Flower | Fennel | Fenugreek | Garlic | Goats Rue | Golden Rod | Groundsel | Inula | Lemon Balm | Maca | Mallow | Marshmallow | Meadowsweet | Melilot | Milk Thistle | Mouse Ear | Nettles | Parsley | Plantain | Raspberry Leaf | Red Clover | Rosehip | Shepherds Purse | Suma | Valerian | Yarrow

Herb uses, myths and herb/drug interactions
From Harvard Medical School's Consumer Health Information