Elder - the Elixir of Life?

There seems to be a fine crop of elder Sambucus nigra berries in our local hedgerows this year. John Evleyn, the 17th. century writer, gardener and diarist, was a great fan of this ubiquitous hedgerow tree. “If”, he wrote, “ the medicinal properties of the leaves, bark, berries,&c., were thoroughly known, I cannot tell what our countrymen could ail, for which they might not find a rememdy from every hedge, either for sickess or wound. The inner bark of elder applied to any burning takes out the fire immediately; that, or in season, the buds boiled in water-grewel for a breakfast, has effected wonders in a fever; and the decoction is admirable to assuage inflammation. But an extract may be composed of the berries, which is not only greatly efficacious to assist longevity, but is a kind of universal preventive against all infirmatives whatever; and of the same berries is made an incomparable spirit, which drunk by itself, or mingled with wine, is not only an excellent drink, but admirable in the dropsy. The ointment made with the young buds and leaves  in May with butter is most sovereign for aches, shrunk sinews &c., and the flowers macerated in vinegar not only are of a grateful relish, but good to attenuate and cut raw and gross humours”. All of which may go some way to explaining why my maternal grandmother, who used to make some pretty potent elderflower champagne and elderberry wine, lived to a ripe old age...... although more recent research and opinion has been more circumspect about the safety of some of the folk medicine attributed to this plant. 

Elder shoots grow remarkably vigorously in their first year and I have vivid childhood memories of cutting these, hollowing out the pith and using them as pea-shooters. The hollowed-out twigs have also been used to make flutes and the generic name Sambucus supposedly comes from the Greek (?) sambuca, a musical instrument – although the word was originally applied to a stringed instrument rather than one that you blow. Elder pith, dissected from the centre of the stems, figured in my education when I was at school, for demonstrating electrical charges and for holding plant specimens that were then thin-sectioned for microscopy by hand, using a cut-throat razor (can you imagine Health and Safety allowing that in a school today!)

Recently elder as a natural resource has undergone something of a revival, with the popularity of elder flower cordials and elder flower presse, which has created an unprecedented demand for the inflorescences. Nice to see that at least some of the potential of our native biodiversity is being realised…..