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Other names: Ellar, ellarne, alderne, elnore, eldrum, hillerne, hylantree, bourtree, elanwood, winlin-berry
Flower colour: White
Flowering: June - July
Height: 1 - 7 m
Active ingredients: flavonoids, ribosome inactivating proteins, tannins, triterpenes, essential oils
Used parts: The flowers and the berries.
Common elder has been highly praised during its existence. The ancient Greeks and Romans used this plant against mucous membrane diseases and colds. They also used it as a diureticum. In folk medicine common elder became known as a plant that would cure almost everything and a work from 1644 by Blockwitzius, there are listed more than seventy diseases that this plant could heal. There are many magical properties ascribed to common elder. In Germany it was common to take off your hat when you walked past a common elder plant and in Denmark you had to ask permission to the spirit living in the elder, before you could harvest the berries or use the plant for anything. If you did not ask permission first, bad things would happen to you. You should especially not create a cradle with it, for then the spirit of the plant would punish your child. And it was likewise not a good idea to create furniture with the wood of common elder either. Furthermore, common elder was connected to the death and grief. A cross of elder branches was sometimes buried with a dead person to protect them against evil spirits. Gravediggers also wore a small branch of the wood to protect them against evil spirits. Furthermore, a common elder growing near a house would protect against withces, fire and lightning. So sometimes it was also placed near stables to make sure that the animals would not be tampered with by any magical means. It was also said that chopping down common elder would bring much misfortunes.
Nowadays there are still uses for common elder. It halves the duration of the flu in 90% of the cases, it helps against colds, rhinitis, laryngitis, angina, pharyngitis and sinusitis.
Rarely someone gets symptoms of potassium deficiency.
Do NOT use this plant if you have a low blood pressure.
Do NOT eat the berries when they are raw or unripe.
If you use medicines to lower the blood pressure, only use common elder if a qualified doctor agrees with it.
If you use corticoids, do NOT use this plant.
Do NOT use Sambucus Nigra if you use anti-arrhythmics, theophylline, cardiac glycosides or diuretica, unless otherwise agreed with a qualified doctor.
Common elder can influence the absorption of bivalent minerals. Hence, do not use nutritional supplements at the same time as common elder.