Flora-Fauna

Sambucus ebulus L.

First published in Species Plantarum: 269 (1753)
(Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 3, Pl. CXXXIV nº 4; 1983)

• Life-form & habit: Robust perennial herb (not a shrub), 50–150 cm tall, arising from a creeping rhizome; stems erect, unbranched or little branched, glabrous or slightly pubescent.

• Leaves: Opposite, pinnate, with 5–11 lanceolate leaflets; margins serrate; upper surface dark green, lower surface paler. Leaflets acute to acuminate.

• Inflorescence & flowers: Large compound cymes (flat-topped), 5–12 cm across. Flowers white or tinged with pink; calyx minute; corolla with 5 spreading lobes; anthers often dark violet.

• Fruit: Small glossy black berries (drupes), 3–5 mm, borne in dense clusters; pedicels often reddish. Highly characteristic of the species.

• Phenology: May – August.

• Habitat & elevation: Field margins, roadsides, stream edges, cultivated land, abandoned plots; from the coast to mid-mountain elevations.

• Lebanese distribution: Widespread. Recorded by Mouterde in Saïda, Beirut, Antélias, Nahr el-Kelb, Tripoli, Jounieh, Baabda, Sin el-Fil, Broummana, Deir el-Qamar, Bikfaya, Zahlé, Chtaura, Ksara, Dahr el-Baïdar, Bcharré, Ehden, Hasroun, and the Cedars.

• Native range: Albania, Algeria, Austria, Baleares, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Central European Russia, Corse, Czechia–Slovakia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Kriti, Krym, Lebanon, Syria, Madeira, Morocco, Netherlands, North Caucasus, NW Balkan Peninsula, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sardegna, Sicilia, Spain, Switzerland, Transcaucasus, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Türkiye, Türkiye-in-Europe, Ukraine (POWO).

• Introduced into: Baltic States, Cyprus, Denmark, Great Britain, Ireland, New Jersey, New York, Palestine, Québec, Sweden (POWO).

• ⚠️ Taxonomic note: Easily distinguished from the shrubby Sambucus nigra by its entirely herbaceous habit, pinnate leaves, and undivided stems. Toxic when raw; rhizomatous colonies often form dense stands in disturbed soils.