Medicinal properties of black elderberry, use in folk medicine. Potassium permanganate for plant health - reliable and irreplaceable

Elderberry is distinguished from its sisters by its powerful, thick, creeping rhizome! Its branches are white and pink and they are collected in umbrella inflorescences, and the berries are dark purple with red juice and a not very pleasant smell. Elderberry grows densely in the west and southwest of the European part of Russia: this weed chooses fields and vegetable gardens, ravines and forest edges, lives in Ukraine, the Republic of Belarus, grows in the Crimea and the Caucasus. Has great healing power.

Elderberry is an anticancer, antitumor, blood purifying plant, strengthens immune system, successfully fights throat diseases. It is used for blood diseases, leukemia, lymphogranulomatosis and for the prevention of the lymphatic system. Used for, others female inflammation, for chronic diseases, as well as for the treatment of arthritis, osteochondrosis, muscle inflammation and kidney disease.

Leukemia and lymphogranulomatosis

For these diseases, you should drink 150 ml of distilled water before meals, and after meals - 1 dessert spoon of elderberry syrup prepared according to the following recipe. Berries and sugar are mixed in equal proportions, glass to glass, the resulting mass is closed and placed in a cupboard for 2 weeks. During this time, a syrup is formed, which must then be stored in the cold. The syrup turns out very tasty, but you shouldn’t get carried away with it to avoid stomach upset.

Cancer and sarcoma

You need to take 1 tablespoon of chopped elderberry roots and add 0.5 liters of water, bring the mixture to a boil and then boil over low heat for 15 minutes. Then leave for 10 hours. You can take 50 ml 3 times a day half an hour before meals.

Dropsy

Joint deformity. Osteochondrosis. Heel spurs

Fresh berries are collected in a glass container, about ¾ of the volume and filled to the top with vodka. The container must be covered with a lid and left in a dark place for a month. The resulting mass is used in the form of compresses or for lubrication 2 times a day. After about six months of regular use, the disease subsides.

Pancreas cancer

Take 1 tbsp. dried elderberry flowers and pour a glass of boiling water. The mass is allowed to brew for 1-2 hours and then take a third of a glass 3 times a day in between meals. The mixture is used in combination with a tincture of birch or black poplar buds, or with a tincture of fresh roots. The treatment lasts a long time, so that one month you drink the infusion, and the other you rest. Positive results will not keep you waiting.

Cancer of various localizations

You need to take a 3-liter jar and fill it to the top fresh berries elderberries, pour 250 ml of cognac over them, leave for 10 days. After this, the berries need to be ground in a tarpaulin bag until a homogeneous paste is obtained and, together with the juice, placed again in the jar. After adding 100 ml of birch buds infused with cognac, leave again for 10 days. The infusion should be taken 1 tbsp 3 times a day 30-40 minutes before meals, washed down with infusion from or. The course of treatment lasts from one and a half to two months. Then you need to take a month's break and then repeat again.

Ascites or dropsy

To recover from this disease, you should take 200 g of crushed elderberry bark and pour 1 liter of dry white wine over it, leave for 2 days. You need to take the composition 100 ml per day.

The chemical composition of red elderberry has not yet been sufficiently studied. But it is known that the flowers, bark, leaves and berries of this plant are a potent laxative. This must be remembered when gastrointestinal diseases and people who have a tendency to loose stools. In addition, decoctions of leaves and bark, when consumed in excess of the norm, can cause.

Black elderberry

In popularity it eclipses the red elderberry and is used much more widely, finding its recognition even in scientific medicine. Decoctions and infusions from the flowers of this plant are prescribed for various colds, with wheezing in the chest and dry, flu, and for kidney disease and inflammation Bladder. Black elderberry is also used to treat gout, arthritis, rheumatism and some skin diseases.

The fruits are harvested in the fall only when they are green.

Lung cancer

When there is a strong cough and fluid accumulates in the lungs, it will be effective to take black elderberry syrup 3 times a day after meals, 1 dessert spoon.

Colpitis. Cervicitis. Inflammation and diseases of the female genital organs

You need to take 30 g of berries black elderberry and boil them in half a liter of water, then, while warm, the resulting composition should be used for douching with a break of 2-3 days before the onset of menstruation and resumed 2-3 days after it. Use the product until complete healing.

Edema

For swelling, pour 1 tablespoon of black elderberry leaves into 1 glass of boiling water and boil for 5 minutes. After leaving until completely cooled, take 1 tbsp. 3 times a day until they begin to fall off.

Inflammation and kidney disease

An infusion of bark from two-year-old black elderberry branches is ground into powder. 6-8 ml or 4-5 g of powder from this bark are infused in a thermos for 5-6 hours in ½ liter of boiling water. You should drink the composition 100 g 5-6 times a day. The remedy is especially effective for renal edema.

Diabetes

You need to take 1 tbsp. dried berries, which are then poured with 1 tbsp. boiling water and leave for 15-20 minutes. The resulting composition should be taken 50 ml 3-4 times a day after meals.

No serious contraindications to the use of black elderberry have yet been identified. You just need to know that its infusions have a diuretic and laxative effect and therefore they must be excluded from use in the case of ulcerative, sugar insipidus. Overdose may cause nausea or vomiting.

Black elderberry is an unpretentious large perennial plant with branched branches that belongs to the honeysuckle family. It has rather large odd-pinnate leaves up to 30 cm long.

Its flowering period begins in May or early July. During flowering it is covered with small fragrant, yellow-white flowers. The fruits of this plant are purple-black berries.

The unpretentiousness of the black elderberry has helped it spread widely in almost all regions with a temperate and warm climate. It can be found literally in different corners the world from Uzbekistan to New Zealand.

Such a huge habitat was facilitated by quick way propagation using small cuttings and seeds.

Medicinal properties of black elderberry

Traditional medicine has long known about the beneficial properties of this plant. The most common way to consume it is tea, which is brewed from dried berries or flowers. Elderberry juice can also be added to wine or other fruit juices.

Its rich benefits for the body are determined by the presence in this plant of a huge range of various vitamins and other bioactive substances. This plant It has disinfectant, diuretic, anti-inflammatory, and many other properties.

People use preparations based on black elderberry to treat initial stages cancer, and normalization of the condition after chemotherapy.

Black elderberry flowers contain useful substances such as choline, rutin, provitamins and A-carotene.
The fruits themselves contain a huge concentration of vitamins C, as well as many carboxylic acids and great amount macro and microelements
The leaves of the plant are rich in resins, A-carotene and ascorbic acids.

But not all parts of the plant are rich in useful microelements, the roots of black elderberry contain a huge amount of toxic substances such as sambunigrin and coniine. These toxins make the plant dangerous for all types of mammals, including humans. Therefore, for consumption you need to use fruits, flowers and occasionally leaves of only the black elderberry variety.

Collection and preparation

The correct collection of berries directly determines how effective and high-quality the raw materials from which various medicines will be prepared will be in the future.

Black elderberry berries and flowers are extremely susceptible to moisture, so it is recommended to collect them only in dry weather.

The collection of flowers usually begins towards the end of spring, when they become open and freed from their rough scales. It is important to know that no matter what drying method you choose, be it an electric dryer or conventional air drying, the temperature in which the raw materials will be located should not exceed 35 degrees.

It is recommended to start picking berries only after they are fully ripe, because unripe black elderberry fruits are toxic and can only cause harm to the human body. Ripe berries are black with a purple tint; their harvest usually begins at the end of August and continues throughout September. The rules for drying berries will be the same as for flowers.

When collecting berries from wild trees, you need to know that only the black elderberry variety has medicinal properties. Its closest relative, the red elderberry, does not have any beneficial properties, so it is best to pass by such trees.

These two varieties can be distinguished by their inflorescences; in the red one they are quite small, no more than 6 mm, and in the black inflorescence they reach 25 mm in cross section.

We bring to your attention a video describing black elderberry and its medicinal properties:

Black elderberries - recipes

Elderberry wine

The most delicious thing that can be prepared from elderberry is - delicious wine. It also has beneficial properties such as strengthening the immune system, normalizing the functioning of blood vessels and the heart. For his recipe you need to pour 1.5 kg of berries into 5 liters of boiling water and cook over medium heat for at least 3 hours.

After that, the resulting drink must be carefully strained through a sieve or gauze folded in several layers to get rid of unnecessary fruits and add another kilogram of sugar. And keep on low heat for another hour. After this time, you need to add one handful of raisins and let the drink ferment.

Upon completion of this procedure, you need to remove the foam formed during the fermentation process, strain again and pour into a container convenient for you, and put it in a dark, cool place for a period of 4 weeks. After which the drink is ready to drink.

Elderberry jam

Another very tasty delicacy made from the fruits of black elderberry is jam, which is prepared in this way: you need to pour an even layer of ripe berries into an enamel pan, after which you should add sugar in a 1:1 ratio and repeat this procedure until the number of layers suits you. Next, you need to wait 7–9 hours until the elderberry gives up all its juices, after which you can start cooking.

The resulting jam is extremely sweet and serves as an excellent substitute for honey in cases where it is necessary to cure a cough. This jam will also help improve the functioning of your gastrointestinal tract.

Black elderberry flowers

Recipe No. 1. The easiest way to cook healing infusion from flowers it will be like this: 3-4 bunches of dried flowers and pour 0.5 liters of boiling water over them, then add 3 tablespoons of dry coltsfoot leaves and the same amount of linden flowers.

Then cook over high heat for 4-5 minutes and let rest for an hour.

The resulting drug should be drunk within a day, it perfectly relieves the symptoms of acute respiratory viral infections and acute respiratory infections.

Recipes No. 2–3. Two fairly simple recipes that are good for helping children cope with coughs and the first symptoms of a cold.

For the first recipe, we will need to add one bunch of dried flowers and dried fruits to 0.5 liters of boiling water. This potion should be boiled for 5–7 minutes, then allowed to brew and drunk warm throughout the day.

The second recipe is a little more complicated: you need to mix a bunch of black elderberry flowers and knotweed and pour two glasses of boiling water, wait until you get ready and consume within. This remedy helps well with pleurisy.

Plant leaves

From a cosmetological point of view, elderberry leaves represent great value. After all, frozen cubes, with their decoction to wipe the skin of the face, rejuvenate it, making it flexible and evening out the color.

Recipe No. 1. The first recipe will be a tonic lotion, which is prepared in this way: pour 7-10, depending on the size of the inflorescences, with half a liter of good boiling water and let the lotion brew for one day. After which it must be filtered through gauze or a sieve. The resulting liquid will be a wonderful tonic for your skin and will give it beauty.

Recipe No. 2. Elderberry leaf decoction is not only good for the skin, it can also strengthen your teeth and prevent tooth decay. The bath recipe is quite simple: for 30 grams of leaves you need to pour one liter of boiling water and let it all brew for two hours. Rinsing the mouth with this decoction will relieve pain from teeth affected by caries and eliminate inflammatory processes.

Bark and roots

As mentioned earlier, the roots and bark of black elderberry are toxic. But when prepared correctly, they can also provide benefits to your health.

Recipe No. 1. Good medicine for external wounds, ulcers, burns there will be a decoction of bark, roots and branches, which is prepared in this way: we will need to take 50 grams of peeled roots and bark for 3 liters of water and put on high heat until it boils. As soon as the broth boils, you need to remove it from the heat and add 50 grams of branches and give it time to cool and brew. After which you need to rinse your legs or other problem areas of the skin with the decoction at least 3 times a day until the wounds are completely healed.

Recipe No. 2. Sore joints are well treated by a decoction of bark, roots and chamomile. Such compresses will work as an anti-inflammatory agent and will soften the skin well. Compresses are prepared in this way: for 2 liters of water you need one handful of chamomile flowers and 30 grams of peeled and crushed bark and roots. Then we bring it to a boil and set it aside to cool and strain, getting rid of any remaining roots and bark. You need to apply them like a regular compress, that is, dip gauze or other cloth in the liquid and apply it to problem areas for at least 15 minutes, 5 times a day.

Black Elderberry Syrup

Black elderberry syrup is not only excellent medicine, but also a delicious dessert dish that goes well with pancakes, pancakes and other pastries.

The syrup can also be used to prepare refreshing drinks by simply adding it to mineral water.

Recipe for elderberry syrup with lemon zest. For it we will need:

30 large black elderberry inflorescences.
2 liters of water.
2 kilograms of sugar.
2 large lemons.

The preparation process begins with cleaning the twigs from husks and insects that might be in the flowers. Next you need to get rid of the stems and start preparing the sugar syrup. To do this, mix two liters of water with two liters of sugar.

After the sugar crystals have completely dissolved, add the zest and juice from two large lemons to the resulting syrup. The resulting mass needs to be boiled, and then removed from the heat and pour all the inflorescences into the hot syrup and place a plate on top, pressing it down with a weight.

It is important that all the inflorescences are immersed in sugar syrup. We need to leave our dishes in this position until they cool completely. Then put it in the refrigerator for a day and after that, carefully move it, this procedure must be repeated for three days. And after they have expired, filter the syrup through cheesecloth and it is ready for use.

Contraindications

No matter how good medicinal properties elderberry has, it will still be a slightly toxic plant. Therefore, you should not directly consume the fruits as they have serious contraindications, neglect of which can worsen your health.

The use of this plant in any form is strictly not recommended:

pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers;
people with chronic problems Gastrointestinal tract;
people with diabetes;
children under 10 years of age.

IN ideal, before starting treatment with black elderberry, you should consult your doctor about the need for such treatment.

You can also learn how to make black elderberry syrup from the following video:

Elderberry is not only an ornamental shrub that can decorate your garden. This is also healthy berries, which are widely used for therapeutic and prophylactic purposes. We invite you to find out why elderberry is needed, how to plant and care for this plant, as well as recipes for medicinal preparations and tinctures.

General information

Elderberry is a perennial plant that reaches a height of 60 to 150 centimeters. It has straight branched stems and odd-pinnate leaves. Flowering occurs in June-July. The flowers are very small and collected in white inflorescences. There are red stamens in the middle. The inflorescences are quite large (up to 20 centimeters in diameter), round shape. Black berries ripen in August-September.

Planting and care

Elderberry herbaceous - unpretentious plant. She feels great in the shade, tolerates frosty winters, and lends itself to curly pruning. The only requirement for a good harvest is well-drained soil. Therefore, you should always monitor the moisture level at the landing site.

If the soil is poor minerals, then it is recommended to apply fertilizers and fertilizing. Best time for this - the beginning of the growing season. Elderberry is resistant to pests and diseases. But there is still a small risk of aphids and mites.

Reproduction of herbaceous elderberry occurs vegetatively and by cuttings. In the first method, above-ground shoots, root shoots, other parts of the bush, and underground creeping rhizomes are disconnected from the bush. In the case of cuttings, in June-July, branches from 8 to 12 cm in length should be cut from the elderberry.

Elderberry - application

This perennial is used as an ornamental plant and therapeutic purpose. Black elderberry flowers, berries, rhizomes, leaves, bark, twigs - everything is used to create various decoctions, infusions and preparations.

The perennial has unique medicinal properties. It can be combined with other plants to enhance the health benefits. The berries can also be eaten unprocessed. But it is necessary to take precautions, because if there is an excess of them in the body, poisoning can occur.

Medicinal properties of elderberry

There are two main ways in which elderberry is used. The medicinal properties of this perennial are most evident when used as a diuretic or to lower blood sugar levels. Therefore, various decoctions are recommended for use in kidney diseases, ascites, and diabetes.

Elderberry preparations can also be made to treat constipation, obesity, back pain, gastritis and digestive disorders, and colds. There are excellent folk recipes to prevent influenza and improve immunity.

Recipes for infusions and decoctions

An infusion of elderberry and other plants for edema, polyarthritis and gout. Make a mixture of dried flowers (10 grams), elderberry root (15 grams), (15 grams), common knotweed (10 grams), horsetail(10 grams), flowers (10 grams), corn columns (15 grams), leaves (15 grams) and birch buds (15 grams). Pour four tablespoons into one liter of water and let it brew for twelve hours. Before use, boil for five minutes and cool slightly. Drink half a glass four times a day half an hour after meals.
For hemorrhoids. Make an infusion of eight elderberry leaves, one tablespoon of sage and one glass of boiling water. Let the whole thing sit for one hour and add another teaspoon of honey. You need to take half a glass a day for a month.
For sore joints, gout, arthritis, neuralgia, paralysis. Boil black elderberry and chamomile flowers. Soak a bandage in this broth and apply a compress to painful areas of the body.
For the treatment of radiculitis. Let the elderflower flowers (1.5 tablespoons) steep in boiling water (0.5 liters) for one hour. You need to take half a glass of the tincture three to five times a day before meals. The treatment period is ten days, then you need to take a break.
For insomnia and headaches. Take a decoction of black elderberry roots and flowers.
At different stomach diseases and atherosclerosis. Make a decoction of the bark and take it at night.
For skin rashes. Make a decoction of black elderberry bark, flowers and berries and take a bath in it.

To prevent colds and flu

Dry black elderberry flowers and add them to tea to protect yourself from colds or as an aid for the flu. For three teaspoons of tea leaves you need one teaspoon of flowers.

For dessert, you can make elderberry syrup. To do this, the perennial berries are blanched and 1.4 kilograms of sugar are added to one liter of juice. The syrup needs to be cooked for a long time to make it thick. It is used to make sauces, jellies, and as toppings for ice cream, pancakes, and cakes.

For those who love homemade wine, elderberry will also come in handy. The perennial berries do not lose their medicinal properties in wine, and the drink itself turns out very tasty.

Wine recipe:

Take two liters apple juice, ten liters of black elderberries, one kilogram of sugar.
Mash the berries.
Add juice and sugar.
Move everything around and leave to ferment for five to six days.
Then strain the drink, squeeze out the juice and bottle everything. The container must be closed with a cork and secured with wire (following the example of champagne).
Bottles are placed in a cold room (cellar, basement).

Contraindications

Eating black elderberry is strictly prohibited for pregnant and lactating women and children under twelve years of age. It is not recommended to drink decoctions and infusions from this perennial for people with impaired functioning of the gastrointestinal tract.

There is also a risk of poisoning if you use elderberries in excess of the amount specified in recipes.

Elderberry is a useful plant of the Adoxaceae family, class of dicotyledons. Back in the 70s of the 20th century, this shrub was classified as a member of the honeysuckle family, but in 2003 the APG II classification was published, where the elderberry genera, like viburnum, are classified in the Adoxaceae family.

The genus Elderberry (Sambucus) includes four dozen species of different plants. Found in temperate climate zones of Europe and Asia, North Africa, Australia. Found everywhere in Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, and southeast Russia. It grows most often as the middle layer of vegetation in deciduous and coniferous forests, on forest edges, along roads, and quickly grows, forming dense thickets. Elderberry has been known to mankind for many centuries; mention of it is found in the works of Pliny (1st century AD).

Description of elderberry

Black elderberry in landscape design photo What black elderberry looks like

Elderberry, most often a bush or not tall tree, - from 2 to 10 m in height. The genus also includes herbaceous plants, for example, “herbaceous elderberry”. However, we will pay more attention to black elderberry, as the most sought-after representative of the elderberry genus.

Black elderberry is a perennial woody plant. The branches are dense and thin. Young stems are green in color, but as they mature they acquire a characteristic grey colour, covered with small “scales”. The leaves consist of an unpaired number of long serrated leaflets, total length leaves can reach up to 30 cm.

Elderberry blooms at the end of May. Large, more than 20 cm in diameter, flat shields of inflorescences consist of white or light beige flowers of 0.8 cm each. The aroma of elderberry blossoms is strong, slightly suffocating up close. At the end of summer, the fruits ripen - a cluster of black berries with seeds. The berries themselves are small, less than a centimeter. Inside there is reddish pulp.

Elderberry is a fast-growing plant, and also very useful, so attention will be paid here not only to its planting, care and formation, but also to its beneficial properties, as well as situations when it can be dangerous.

How and when to plant elderberries

It is better to place elderberries on the northern or eastern sides of the site. Take into account that young branches have a very pungent, specific smell that repels insects, so elderberries are not planted near houses, but are placed near toilets, sheds, and compost pits. If you want to plant near the terrace, where people are from time to time, then a nice bonus there will be no mosquitoes. In general, the plant is not particularly demanding, but dense shade or very acidic soil will have a detrimental effect on its development.

An experienced gardener knows that it is necessary to alkalize the soil wisely, and for elderberries - a couple of years before planting. And we suggest to beginners: liming of the soil is carried out by adding dolomite flour to it (today the most popular remedy from soil acidification). The optimal pH for elderberry is 6 -6.5.

When planting this shrub, give preference to one- or two-year-old seedlings, choose a bright place for it and, as usual, plant in spring or autumn.

Prepare a hole for planting in advance; you will also need:

humus - bucket;
phosphates – 50 g;
potash fertilizers – 30g.

Into the hole (depth 80 cm, width 50 cm) we pour a mixture of the listed components and the top, fertile layer of soil (this must be taken care of when digging the hole). We use about two-thirds and leave it to rest for a month. Already during planting of the seedling, we loosen the mixture in the hole, deepen the seedling, sprinkle the roots with the soil mixture from the hole, and then until the end with the remaining third.

As a result, the root neck of the tree should be several centimeters higher than the level of the site, however, after compacting and watering (a bucket or a bucket and a half), the seedling will sag and will be at the same level as the rest of the soil.

Most often, cultivated elderberry is grown as a bush, but if someone wants to grow it as a tree, then it is necessary to think about support and, during planting, dig in the appropriate post, and then tie the seedling to it.

Seasonal elderberry care

Spring

Overwintered trees are freed from insulating material near the trunks, from leaves and other debris accumulated in the holes. If the winter was snowless and the spring was dry, then spring watering should be carried out.

Take a close look at the bush. If there is damage from rodents or bad weather, treat it with a solution of potassium permanganate and seal it garden varnish. As soon as the bright spring sun appears, the tree has a chance to get burned, because the tree bark heats up during the day and cools down very much at night, even to the point of frost. Such changes are clearly not good for the tree. To prevent damage, trees should be whitewashed with lime thick enough to leave a noticeable layer on the bark.

Before the start of sap flow, prune the elderberry. The bush lends itself well to shaping. By nature, the shape of the bush is oval, not spreading; if desired, you can leave this shape or shape it to your taste.
In the spring, it is necessary to remove dried and frozen branches, remove stems directed into the bush, it is advisable to get rid of about a quarter of the old branches.
Be sure to cut off the root shoots. Afterwards, seal the cuts with garden varnish, and treat the bush with Bordeaux mixture or Nitrophen, as a preventive measure against pests that managed to overwinter in the bark or foliage near the bush.

Summer

Elderberry grows very quickly, especially if favorable conditions are created for it:

timely watering;
pest and disease control;
loosening the soil around the trunk;
mulching the tree trunk circle;
additional food.

After the flowering period, it is necessary to spray against pests and diseases. Again, carefully remove the root growth, otherwise, if you miss a little, it will overtake the main bush or, even worse, begin to creep across the area. To prevent such expansion it is possible to protect root system elderberries, digging some kind of barrier, for example, a piece of slate, to a depth of up to half a meter.

The end of summer may already bring the first harvest of berries. And a rainy summer can bring re-growth of shoots. What about the fact that with the other we know what to do.

Autumn

Autumn is the time to harvest and prepare for winter.

We collect the harvest, make jam, marmalade, and dry the berries. We prepare the bush itself for wintering:

We carry out “sanitary” pruning (end of September);
we dig up planting holes, apply fertilizers, mulch the soil (late September);
if you plan to plant elderberry in the fall, then the last week September is suitable for digging a hole;
if autumn is dry, then it is necessary to water the bush well before winter;
treating plants against wintering pests (October);
whitewashing with slaked lime (October).

Let's talk in more detail about elderberry processing. If there are no visible pests or diseases, then preventive treatment twice a year is still required. The following drugs can be used:

Bordeaux mixture;
Nitrophen (3% solution);
copper sulfate (1% solution);
urea (7% solution) – relevant in the spring, because it will also be a nitrogen fertilizer.

The time for the first procedure is early spring, before the growing season begins, and the second is autumn, after leaf fall.

Elderberry will only ask for watering in very dry summers.
then you will have to pour up to two buckets under the bush per week. If it's summer normal level precipitation, and you also mulched the tree trunk circle, then sometimes loosening the soil under the bush and weeding out the weeds will be quite enough. Young seedlings, of course, require more meticulous care - both watering and loosening, but this is temporary until the elderberry grows stronger.

If the soil is fertile, and there is mulch under the bush made of compost or rotted manure, then the elderberry does not need feeding. On poorer soils, nitrogen fertilizers will not be superfluous. You can use popular organic fertilizers: slurry, chicken droppings. Complex mineral fertilizers are suitable. Fertilizers are applied in the spring.

Garden and front garden care includes mandatory pruning of trees and shrubs.
When planting elderberry, its shoots are shortened to 10 cm per strong outer bud.
The same procedure is carried out every three years to rejuvenate the bush, called stump pruning.
The rules for spring pruning are described above.
Autumn pruning is aimed at removing branches damaged by wind or harvest.

Note that elderberry is used in park culture as a hedge plant, so it tolerates pruning easily and allows you to create various shapes.

If you use elderberry fruits, then remember that the 2-3-year-old branches are richest in berries, and after the sixth year you should not expect a harvest on such a branch.

Elderberry propagation

There are vegetative and seed types of propagation.

Growing elderberry with seeds

It makes sense to propagate elderberry seeds only if you purchased varietal seeds in a specialized store, since the seeds collected from a tree do not retain their parental characteristics and will simply grow wild.

Elderberry seedlings can be obtained from seeds by sowing them in February-March in containers with nutritious soil or ready-made soil mixture.
Remember that there must be holes in the bottom of the planting container to allow water to drain out.
The seeds need to be planted shallowly, no more than 1-1.5 cm. The distance between the seeds is 4-5 cm, but it is better if planted in separate cups.
Water and cover with film.
We ventilate until shoots appear once a day, then remove the cover.
When the seedlings grow a little, they are transplanted into larger containers using the transshipment method.

Only mature seedlings are planted in the ground in the spring. How to propagate black elderberry photo

It will be possible to plant plants in the ground only when next year in the spring, when they are strong enough. Having gained strength over the summer, they will be able to prepare for the winter.

Still, elderberry is most often propagated vegetatively:

layering;
cuttings;
dividing the bush.

Reproduction by layering- a popular method due to 100% results. We bend the young branch to the ground, having previously poured manure into the groove, dig it in, leaving the end of the shoot on top. To be more sure, you can press the branch to the ground with metal hooks. We tie the shoot at the base with wire.

If such a procedure is carried out with the onset of stable heat, using a woody shoot, then in the fall the rooted shoot can already be separated from the mother bush and transplanted to a new place.
It’s easier with green shoots; they don’t need to be tied at the base, but need to be planted at next year when they become stiff.
Such shoots do not really need to be secured, they are very soft, that is, they are buried and you have planting material for the next season.

How to propagate elderberry from cuttings

When cutting planting material are chopped parts of green shoots up to 25 cm long. Required condition is the presence of 2-3 internodes and two paired leaves. Processing bottom part cuttings with stimulants for the growth of the root system and planted in a mixture of sand and peat at an angle. True, the best cutting will be a young shoot, torn from a branch with a “heel”, because that’s where it will go fast education roots.

The cuttings need to be created in greenhouse conditions (can be covered with a tall plastic bag, a jar or part of a five-liter plastic bottle).
We maintain high humidity for the first week: we spray the air in the “greenhouse” with a fine spray bottle; you should not get it on the leaves, as this will cause them to rot.
If you plant cuttings at the beginning of summer, then in the fall there will already be roots and the plant can be transplanted to a permanent place.

The video will tell you about obtaining elderberry from cuttings, planting and care:

When the goal is to get it right away mature plant, then you can divide the elderberry bush. In the fall, dig up the elderberry, chop or saw the root to create equal parts with branches and a good rhizome. The resulting bushes must be planted immediately. This can be done in pre-prepared holes or in containers for wintering, and transplanted to a permanent place in the spring. Most often this is done when redeveloping a plot or flower garden.

Pests and diseases of elderberry

Elderberry is not affected by any exotic diseases. The most common pest is aphids. One treatment with karbofos is enough here. You may find the elder moth, elder leaf mite, or elder leaf miner. Karbofos or Decis will also help against these insects, but you will have to spray it twice.

Let's look at popular varieties and types of elderberry with photos and descriptions

Black elderberry varieties and photos

Black elderberry (Latin Sambucus nigra) - the plant to which this article is mainly devoted, we associate with the village, simplicity, maybe with a grandmother in a colorful dress. This plant can use everything: flowers, leaves, bark, berries.

Based on this shrub, many favorite decorative forms have been developed.

Marginata - the leaves have a silvery border along the edge, the bush can be about 2.5 m in height, develops very quickly;

Elderberry black Madonna planting and care photo Sambucus nigra ‘Madonna’

Blue elderberry

A fairly tall tree, often about 15 m, is an inhabitant of the floodplains and mountain slopes of North America. There is also a shrub form with thin branches and young shoots of a crimson hue. The trunk of the tree and bush is yellowish-beige, and the leaves have a bluish tint. The leaf consists of 5-7 bare long leaflets 6-15 cm in length.

The flowers are small, white with a yellow or beige tint, collected in inflorescences up to 15 cm, have characteristic aroma. In September the fruits ripen - blue-black berries, half a centimeter in diameter. Blue elderberries have a bluish tinge on them that makes them appear really blue. Prefers warmer latitudes, as it is not frost-resistant.

Siberian elderberry

This subspecies of red elderberry is more resistant to frost, therefore it grows in Siberia, the East, and European Russia. Favorite places are mixed or coniferous forests and highlands. Siberian elderberry is a lush shrub up to 4 m in height. It is also called red elderberry for the color of the berries, which, by the way, ripen in late July - early August. The berries are edible when ripe, but are not popular. But unripe fruits cause abdominal pain, nausea, cramps, headaches, and can even lead to death.

Elderberry herbaceous

This is a perennial herbaceous plant with erect stems reaching a height of 1.5 m. People call it wild elderberry or stinking elderberry, for the pungent smell of the flowers. In the wild, she is an inhabitant of forests, forest edges, floodplains, and mountain slopes of Central Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus. The leaves are located on long petioles and consist of 9-11 narrow serrated leaflets. The flowers are collected in inflorescences, erect, white or pinkish in color.

The fruits of the elderberry are black shiny drupes, very attractive in appearance and easily accessible to children. You have to be careful, because all parts of elderberry are poisonous (contain hydrocyanic acid). Some literature describes the use of these berries for making liqueurs and other alcoholic drinks, this is a controversial issue. Now, if you plant currants with elderberries, this will repel harmful butterflies and bud mites. But there is a minus - this plant has a strong creeping stem, so it will be problematic to remove elderberries from currants. While drying flowers bad smell disappears and they are poured over apples for storage.

Elderberry

It is native to the rich soils of North America. This plant is loved by landscapers due to its remarkable decorative properties. Indeed: a large, up to 30 cm leaf characteristic of elderberry, magnificent umbrellas of white inflorescences reaching 25 cm in diameter, clusters of dark burgundy fruits, which are also edible. Let's add resistance to the climate of the middle zone.

Several decorative forms can be noted:

maxima - distinguished by power;
Acutebola - on the contrary, tender, with feathery foliage;
chlorocarpa - the foliage has a yellow tint, and the berries are green;
aurea - its leaves are green only in summer, and yellow in autumn and spring.

Elderberry Siebold

An eastern relative of the red elderberry. Natural halo - Japan, Kuril Islands, Far East. In Europe, a cultivated form is grown - a powerful plant (tree or bush) up to 8 m high with large leaves (20x6 cm). The inflorescences are loose, racemose, large.

Elderberry downy

It got its name due to the fact that the young shoots are pubescent. The homeland is considered North America. Cultivated varieties - four-meter shrub. in May, the color of the inflorescences is white, sometimes with a yellow tint, sometimes with pink. The fruits are red berries with seeds and ripen in July.

You can note forms with different fruit colors:

xanthocarpa – yellow-orange fruits;
leucocarpa - white fruits.

Use of elderberry and precautions

Black elderberry is a wonderful plant, every part of it can be used. And for good reason.

Here's a list useful substances, which are contained in this plant:

leaves contain organic acids (malic, valeric, acetic, chlorogenic, caffeic), carotene (provitamin A, as in carrots), tannins(eliminate the influence of microorganisms), choline (vitamin B4), vitamin C (0.28%), etc.;
in flowers - essential oils, valeric, malic and caffeic acids, choline, rutin, etc.;
berries also contain carotene, malic acid, in addition – ascorbic acid, sugars, fructose and glucose, resin and coloring matter;
in the bark - choline, phytosterol (cholesterol neutralizer), essential oil.

The leaves are used fresh as a compress for burns, boils, and cuts. The sheet must first be steamed. The leaves have an antipyretic, diaphoretic, diuretic effect, as well as a mild laxative effect.

There is a village remedy for the treatment of chronic constipation. To prepare it, you need to boil the young shoots in honey, cool, drain and take “elderberry honey” internally.

You can make tea from fresh flowers with the addition of lemongrass and mint.
A tonic made from fresh elderflowers will delight your skin. It is prepared simply: 10 inflorescences are poured with half a liter of boiling water, left for a day, filtered and stored in the refrigerator.

Lotions or baths made from elderberry bark help with arthritis, rheumatism, and gout. The decoction is recommended for skin and kidney diseases.

During the season, thrifty housewives make preparations. The most widely used are inflorescences and fruits. Flowers must be dried, carefully following the drying rules, as they are very susceptible to high humidity.

It is recommended to collect flowers on a dry, clear day after lunch...
cut off coarse roots as short as possible, dry in a natural way or in an electric dryer, not exceeding a temperature of 35˚. Rub the dry raw materials through a plastic sieve, discard the rough parts, store the finished dried flowers for 2, maximum 3 years. We do the same with berries, only the shelf life of dried berries is reduced to six months.

It is worth remembering your preparations during the period of colds, because it is the decoction that has antibacterial and diaphoretic properties. Making a decoction is simple: at the rate of 1 tablespoon of flowers, pour a glass of boiling water and leave on low heat for a quarter of an hour. Then you need to cool, strain and drink half a glass three times a day.
A decoction of all parts of elderberry is used to regulate metabolism. Apples stored for storage are sprinkled with dried flowers.

Elderberry has been with people for many centuries

The Latin name for elderberry is Sambucus. One version of the origin of this name is from the name of the ancient Iranian instrument sambuza, which was made from elderberry.

Our ancestors found many uses for this plant. One of them is based on the coloring substances of elderberry fruits. Elderberry juice was used to dye fabrics: cotton, linen, hemp and silk. The color it turned out was black, but when mixed with alum it turned out blue. By fixing elderberry juice with vinegar, ink was obtained. Village girls blackened their eyebrows with berry juice.

Fruits and flowers were used to make drinks
For example, from fresh flowers, lemon juice, zest and water after fermentation, a light refreshing drink was obtained. Vodka was distilled from fermented berries. Also, elderberry is one of the ingredients of the famous Italian liqueur Sambuca. Exact recipe Its preparation is kept secret, but home craftsmen offer to make the drink themselves and it contains dried black elderberry flowers.

In the villages in the spring they rejoiced at the first greenery, so they made salads from various young plants, including adding young elderberry shoots to the salads. If you want to experiment, go back to basics, so to speak, then keep in mind that young elderberry shoots have a laxative and diuretic effect.

Black elderberries were used to make jam
The recipe is simple: sprinkle a centimeter layer of berries with a layer of sugar and so on several layers (1 kg of sugar for 1 kg of berries); let stand for a day, boil for 15 minutes and pour into sterile jars.

At a time when plants were treated with respect, elderberries were even treated with reverence. It was believed that it was bad luck to cut down an elderberry bush that had grown on your own in the courtyard, and before a sudden meeting with this plant, the men took off their hats. This respect is not idle.

Hippocrates also believed that elderberry could cure a dozen diseases. And Zikkerot (a doctor of the 18th century) recommended that every housewife have dried elderberry flowers and jam at home in case of a cold or kidney and bladder disease.

Prepared from berries and young wine
You will need a three-liter jar of juice and a glass of sugar or honey. The jar is tightly sealed and gases are removed through a water lock. Fermentation is carried out in a warm place, without access sun rays. Upon completion, the wine is bottled, corked and stored in horizontal position in the cellar.

Already in the 21st century, elderberries were remembered again. It turns out that its use has positive results in the treatment of cancer and diabetes. B vitamins in berries are collected in exclusively correct proportions for humans.

We can talk for a long time about the beneficial properties of this plant, which is familiar to the eye, but there are also contraindications. The most basic is individual intolerance components included in the composition. Therefore, you need to start using small doses, carefully listening to the body. Pregnant and lactating women, people with Crohn's disease, and chronic stomach diseases should definitely not take elderberry in one form or another.

The danger most often comes from other elderberries, such as red elderberry, whose berries can be confused with black elderberry. There is only one recommendation: if you are not sure what kind of plant it is, then it is better not to eat it.

Other plant names:

stinking elderberry (wild, low-growing, greenberry), elderberry.

Brief description of herbaceous elderberry:

Elderberry herbaceous (elderberry stinking) is a perennial herbaceous plant - a shrub from 50 to 200 cm in height, which has an unpleasant odor and forms dense thickets. Stems are erect, unbranched, cylindrical, grooved, glabrous or sparsely pubescent.

The core of the stems is greenish-white. The leaves are odd-pinnate, short-petiolate, compound, 5–9 in number. They are asymmetrical at the base, sharp-serrate along the edges, and woolly-feathered below. Stipules are lanceolate, toothed, sometimes only linear, especially on the upper leaves. The inflorescences are forked, triply branched, flat, very dense. The pericorolla leaves are white or slightly reddish. The flowers are 6–8 mm in diameter and emit a bitter almond aroma. However, the entire plant as a whole emits an unpleasant odor. The anthers are lilac in color, as are the fruit stalks. The fruits are three-seeded drupes, black, sometimes greenish, with red juice, shiny, elliptical, approximately 4 mm long, bitter in taste.

It blooms from late June to mid-August, the fruits ripen in August - September.

The entire plant (and not just the leaves, like black elderberry) has an unpleasant, specific odor. In appearance, the herbaceous elderberry is similar to the black elderberry, but differs from it in its pungent and unpleasant odor and the color of the anthers (they are red or purple, and not yellow, like those of the black elderberry).

Places of growth:

In the black earth zone of our country, in Crimea, in the Caucasus, in Turkmenistan.

Sometimes it forms large thickets along the edges, ravines, river banks, and is found as a weed along roads, in fields and vegetable gardens.

Growing:

Elder grass reproduces vegetatively using a thick creeping rhizome. The herbaceous elderberry lends itself well to plantation cultivation, which is important when solving the issue of creating a raw material base in the area where food coloring production shops operate. The first such plantations were established in forestry enterprises of the Krasnodar Territory.

Resources. The main reserves of elderberry are concentrated in the Krasnodar and Stavropol territories.

Elderberry preparation:

WITH medicinal purposes They collect fruits, leaves, flowers and roots of elderberry. Roots are selected from young plants and dug in early spring or late autumn. Dry in well ventilated warm rooms or on stoves. IN folk medicine Leaves collected during the flowering period of the plant, flowers, and fruits are also used. Elder flowers are collected during the flowering period, cutting off the umbrella inflorescences when full disclosure. Dry in a well-ventilated area or under a canopy. Elderberries should not be dried in the sun. After drying, the raw materials are threshed to separate the pedicels. The grass is harvested in the first half of summer in dry, clear weather. Dry on the day of collection in the shade or in a well-ventilated area, laying out a layer of 2-3 cm and turning over often. The fruits are harvested when fully ripe. Dry in a dryer at a temperature of 30–35°C.

The roots are stored in bags, and the leaves and flowers separately, in tightly closed boxes lined with paper.

Chemical composition of elderberry:

The chemical composition has not yet been fully studied. Elderberry preparations are heterogeneous in composition. Berries, bark, and leaves contain glycosides amygdalin, sambunigrin, valeric and acetic acids, and terpene. When cleaved, amygdalin produces hydrocyanic acid. 100 g of stinking elderberry leaves contain about 10 mg of acid.

All these active ingredients form the basis of the chemical composition of herbaceous elderberry (smelly elderberry).

Pharmacological properties of elderberry:

Pharmacological properties elderberry is defined by its chemical composition.

The fruits and leaves have laxative and diuretic properties.

Elderberry fruits have diuretic, diaphoretic and laxative properties. The roots are used as a good diuretic.

Use of elderberry in medicine, treatment with elderberry:

The fruits and leaves are used for dropsy.

With inflammation of the kidneys (with nephritis) and mainly with effusions in abdominal cavity and the heart sac, with cystitis, ascites, hydrophobia, urethria, arthritis, exudative pericarditis preparations from roots are recommended (if internal use) as a fairly strong diuretic.

The decoction is also useful for various diseases of the bladder, as well as for diabetes mellitus, often in combination with other medicinal plants that have a similar effect on the body.

Dosage forms, method of application and dosage of elderberry preparations:

Elderberry fruits, leaves, flowers and roots are used to make effective medications and forms used in the treatment of many diseases. Let's look at the main ones.

Brew 1 cup boiling water 2 tsp. dry crushed roots, leave in a boiling water bath for 30 minutes, cool at room temperature for 15 minutes, strain. Take 1 tbsp. l. 3 times a day, 30 minutes before meals.

More powerful healing properties has a tincture of elderberry roots.

Decoction of elderberry roots:

Brew 1 liter of boiling water, 30 g of crushed roots (less often leaves and flowers), keep in a water bath for 30 minutes, leave for 15 minutes, strain. Take 1/3 cup 3 times a day 30 minutes before meals as a strong diuretic, especially of renal origin.

Decoction of elderberry leaves:

Brew 1 cup boiling water 2 tbsp. l. leaves, keep in a water bath for 30 minutes, leave for 15 minutes, strain. Use as a gargle for laryngitis, in the form of a poultice for rheumatism, gout and old ulcers, as well as for bites of bees, wasps, mosquitoes, and snakes.

Infusion of elderberry fruit:

Brew 20 g of fruit with 1 glass of boiling water, boil in a water bath for 30 minutes, leave for 15 minutes, strain. Take 1 tbsp. l. 3 times a day, 20 minutes before meals for anuria, diarrhea, rheumatism, kidney stones, ascites, laryngitis.

Infusion of elderberry roots:

Brew 20 g of herb with 1 glass of boiling water, leave, wrapped, for 30 minutes, strain. Use as an external remedy for dermatomycosis, furunculosis, purulent wounds.

Infusion of elderberry leaves or flowers:

Brew 10 g of herbs or flowers with 1 cup of boiling water, leave, wrapped, for 30 minutes, strain. Take 1 tsp orally. 4–5 times a day, before meals for measles and rubella in children.

Infusion of elderberry flowers:

Pour 1 glass warm water 20 g of flowers, leave for 6 hours, strain. Apply 1 tbsp. l. 3 times a day, 30 minutes before meals for malaria, kidney and bladder diseases. It has a diaphoretic, laxative, diuretic, expectorant effect.

Elderberry root tincture:

Pour 200 ml of alcohol or vodka into 20 g of crushed dry roots, leave in a warm place for 8 days, shaking the contents periodically, strain. Take 15 drops of alcohol tincture and 30 drops of vodka tincture, 3 times a day, 30 minutes before meals.

Alcohol (or vodka) tincture of elderberry fruit:

Pour 100 ml of alcohol or 1 glass of vodka 1 tbsp. l. fruits, leave for 14 days, strain. Take 10–15 drops orally (vodka) and 5 drops alcohol tincture 3 times a day, 20 minutes before meals for neuralgia trigeminal nerve.

Elder Root Powder:

Crushed fresh roots or dry roots in powder form in an amount of 3 g have a wound-healing effect.

Elder leaf tea:

Tea from the leaves is drunk at intestinal colic, and also as an antitumor agent.

Elderberry juice:

Juice from the fruits of elderberry is prescribed 5-10 drops at a time. bronchial asthma.

Elderberry leaf juice:

The juice from the leaves is taken orally, 5–10 drops, as a laxative.

Contraindications for elderberry:

All parts of the herbaceous elderberry are poisonous, so a strict dosage of preparations from it is required. When consuming flowers, berries and leaves, especially fresh ones, poisoning with amygdalin may occur, which under certain conditions turns into hydrocyanic acid. However, during the drying process this toxic alkaloid is completely destroyed.

The fruits of the herbaceous elderberry are similar in appearance to the fruits of the black elderberry; when collected, they are often confused, which leads to serious violations digestion. In the same way, a mistake when collecting flowers for home preparation of drinks and decoctions can become cause of lung poisoning When poisoning with elderberry preparations, dizziness and headache, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, shortness of breath and other disturbances in the depth and frequency of breathing, tachycardia, convulsions.

Treatment is carried out in the same way as for poisoning with pits of apricots, peaches, cherries, etc.

Use of elderberry on the farm:

In the national economy, lignified branches are used for weaving baskets and making wind instruments. Fresh berries are inedible and are a raw material for the production of red food coloring used in various industries. Food Industry. The juice of the berries is used to color wines. The berries are also a good dye for cotton and wool fabrics. The leaves have a specific smell, so they are used to repel flies, bedbugs and small rodents.