Help me identify this?

Marlene Olson
by Marlene Olson
I don't remember planting this but it is very tall (about 10') and has dark berries. It grew very quickly. There isn't anything like this around my property. I live in NW WI and it didn't get berries until Fall.
  46 answers
  • Diane Carlisle Diane Carlisle on Oct 08, 2013
    I'm not positive but it resembles the elderberry that grows down here is southern MS. Do a google search and look at some of the photos. Did it have big clusters of white blooms prior to the berries?
    • Marlene Olson Marlene Olson on Oct 09, 2013
      @Diane Carlisle Judging by the responses, I think you nailed it Diane. It did have white blooms in the Spring. Thanks!
  • Wallace Gardens Wallace Gardens on Oct 08, 2013
    It looks like Elderberry to me also, especially if it is berrying now. Here in Georgia, Zone 7B, it is known as Sambucus nigra ssp. canadensis, grows 6-8' tall, berries in fall, spreads by underground runners and is considered by many as "invasive."
  • Audrey Montgomery Audrey Montgomery on Oct 09, 2013
    Sorry, I was thinking it was a poke berry bush, but poke berries are more clustered. See photo.
  • Audrey Montgomery Audrey Montgomery on Oct 09, 2013
    Here's a photo of the Pokeberry bush.
    • Marlene Olson Marlene Olson on Oct 09, 2013
      @Audrey Montgomery The color is the same. I can see why you would have thought that.
  • Marian Peppers Marian Peppers on Oct 09, 2013
    have the same exact berry bush growing in the community garden. grows wild. research it on the high country web sites and other similar sites having just read up on this type bush this week. In NC-Zone 7.
  • Fiona Moore Fiona Moore on Oct 09, 2013
    Elderberry great tree the berries make a great wine.
  • Cindy tustin Cindy tustin on Oct 09, 2013
    Also great jelly.
  • Debbie P Debbie P on Oct 09, 2013
    Think it is elderberry, but if you take a picture and leaf and even one of the clusters (wear gloves) to your nearest Agriculture center they can tell you for sure what it is. We have something similar to an elderberry that grows here in NC, but you can't eat the berries.
  • Lucille Janssen Lucille Janssen on Oct 09, 2013
    I too think this is an elderberry. I have made jelly out of them and I've heard about elderberry wine. Grows wild in Kansas.
  • Marlene Olson Marlene Olson on Oct 09, 2013
    Thanks everyone! I'm excited to have elderberries. That is something entirely new to me. Sounds like I'll have to keep an eye on it to keep it from taking over the yard.
  • Silvan Johnson Silvan Johnson on Oct 09, 2013
    I'm so glad you posted this, I have these growing wild on my property and just assumed it was a weed because it grows so fast! Yes, I know what happens when one "ass-u-me"s I should know better :) I live in central NY though, a lot farther north than anyone else who mentioned what the believe it is. Does anybody know if they grow up here in NYS?
  • Silvan Johnson Silvan Johnson on Oct 09, 2013
    Hmm....now I think its a Pokeberry, it has the longer cluster of fruit, rather than umbrella shape. Going to have to do some more research!
    • See 1 previous
    • Silvan Johnson Silvan Johnson on Oct 10, 2013
      @Douglas Hunt Thanks Douglas, I did see the photo, which makes me think its pokeberry. I'll have to take a pic of what I have and post it on here....
  • I think elderberries are MUCH, MUCH smaller. Do NOT make jelly or wine without checking with your extension office to make sure.
  • Pamela Dyer Pamela Dyer on Oct 10, 2013
    It's polk and you can't pick it after it berries. But it sure is good before it starts blooming and the berries start. I pick it every year and also put some up in the freezer for the winter months. Polk Salad and corn bread...YUM!
  • Deanna Riles-Cox Deanna Riles-Cox on Oct 10, 2013
    Please look at this link http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GPwTjqJn_ZQ/SrF5ZFESKTI/AAAAAAAABqI/FGxAvYMuduQ/s1600-h/DSCN5274.JPG I have poke and elderberries on my property. The leaves are very different. The elderberry has woody stems at the base of the plant, the part that holds the berry is tender and green.when the berries get ripe the umbel ( umbrella shaped cluster) hangs down down. Before that the cluster looks like an umbrella with tiny flowers all over it. Poke when it gets tall and bushy the base is a hard pithy cane. It doesn't look like wood like the elderberry. When you look at the link you will see a picture of the 2 fruits beside each other.
  • Sally Sally on Oct 10, 2013
    I would be careful before eating it. I am with the other person that said take it to the your Ag specialist. We have something in Florida that looks like that and it is deadly. Just be careful.
  • Alice Harley-Wosnig Alice Harley-Wosnig on Oct 10, 2013
    It doesn't have the leaves of a pokeberry. They are bigger leaves and very green. I know as it grows in the bottom of the back yard and I pick it and mix it with spinach and eat it with a little onion cooked in it with cornbread. I know you have to wash it, parboil it, wash it some more, parboil it again making sure to have all the poison out of it. Taste yummy
  • Stephen Andrew Stephen Andrew on Oct 10, 2013
    Definitely elderberry. The 2013 herb of the year :)
  • Stephen Andrew Stephen Andrew on Oct 10, 2013
    The thing about elderberry is the leaves, the stems, and even the unripe berries are toxic. Once the berries are ripe they are edible. But you have to take off each teeny-tiny little stem.
  • Rob Handel Rob Handel on Oct 10, 2013
    It's elderberry for sure. You need to take off most of the stems, but it's nearly impossible to get each tiny one. You can also utilize the elderflowers in the spring and make syrups, fritters, or wine out of those.
  • Beverly Alley Beverly Alley on Oct 10, 2013
    elderberry,makes wonderful jelly . Take it to a forestry dept. and confirm it. I bought some plants but it is so hot in Az I havent got the berries yet. When I lived in Ohio we got them along the railroad tracks in the fall. I put mine in cheesecloth to get the stems off when I am boiling them for the juice.
  • Jocelyne marchand Jocelyne marchand on Oct 10, 2013
    I freeze mine and add them to my pancake batter delicious - you can freeze the whole clump and then the individual fruits fall off easily . .get them before the birds do, they can strip the fruits of a bush in no time
  • Elaine Simmons Elaine Simmons on Oct 10, 2013
    My mother-in-law used to make the elderberry jelly. It was very good......kind of tastes like grape, only more tart, I would say.
  • Alanda Alanda on Oct 10, 2013
    I think it is elderberry, and a bird probably planted it for you. Elderberry jam/jelly is sooo good. To be safe get it checked out .
  • Darlenegreen Darlenegreen on Oct 10, 2013
    One nice thing too is in the spring when they flower, you can dip them in batter and fry!
  • Judy Judy on Oct 10, 2013
    This is Elderberry. Notice the leaves, how they are arranged on the stem in pairs with opposite leaves. Pokeberry leaves alternate on the stem. Also, pokeberry fruit hangs in a long, narrow cluster, sort of like grapes, while Elderberries are in a much wider, umbrella shaped cluster. Here is a link to a page that can help you: http://www.herbalrootszine.com/articles/elderberry-vs-pokeberry/
  • Judy Judy on Oct 10, 2013
    A neighbor makes wine out of it.
  • Theresa Wilson Theresa Wilson on Oct 10, 2013
    Huckleberries poisonous!
    • Alice Harley-Wosnig Alice Harley-Wosnig on Oct 11, 2013
      Huckleberries are not poisonous. They grow wild on the hill beside our house and we pick them and make pies and jelly. Taste like a blueberry @
  • Rachel Beeson Rachel Beeson on Oct 10, 2013
    This is elderberry. We had them when I was growing up in New York and we have them out here in Idaho. They do make great jelly, elderberry syrup, wine and also great pie, warm w/vanilla ice cream...my daughter's favorite. We also have huckleberries and they are definitely NOT poisonous, but they grow on low shrubs and are harvested in August. Elderberries need a frost before they're ready for picking.
    • Rob Handel Rob Handel on Oct 11, 2013
      @Rachel Beeson In my experience they ripen in August in upstate NY and the birds have eaten them long before frost is even an option.
  • Doris Hutchinson Doris Hutchinson on Oct 11, 2013
    We had them in Pennsylvania when I was a child--we loved to eat them and get purple faces!
  • Diane Miller Diane Miller on Oct 11, 2013
    My Mom made elderberry pie and it was my favorite.
  • Rachel Beeson Rachel Beeson on Oct 12, 2013
    I gather them here in Idaho in Sept/Oct. and cook them to use if grandchildren or I get sick w/colds, viruses, etc. Same as Sambucoll only free.
  • Pat Pat on Oct 12, 2013
    Elderberries...you can make jelly and wine!! I remember them growing up in PA!!
  • Tracey Page Tracey Page on Oct 13, 2013
    It's Elderberry here in England we use the berries to make wine and the flowers to make a beautiful cordial (drink) .
  • Lisa Shipman Lisa Shipman on Oct 13, 2013
    Elderberrys make great jelly we use apple jucie to help tame the tartness of the berry
  • Jennie Brinker Jennie Brinker on Oct 14, 2013
    Looks like elderberry. Here in Texas, it gets the prettiest clusters of small white flowers before the berries. A lot of people make wine out of the berries.
  • Barbara Rudolph Barbara Rudolph on Oct 20, 2013
    hello @ all... in german we call it Holunderbusch -> just an Elderberry... i make hot juice from the berries with a steamer -this year about 30 liters -, rich in vitamin C . In German we say an elderberry in your garden keeps the doctor away... and in each elderberry life a good spirit -)
  • S S on Nov 30, 2016

    Planted by birds - thus your confusion....

  • Martha grundmann Martha grundmann on Dec 15, 2016

    This looks like porcelain berry vine. If so, it is quite invasive in Maryland and cam choke out other good plants.



    • Gardengraz Gardengraz on Feb 01, 2017

      You are right that porcelain berry is very invasive but the ones I have seen had berries of different colors--pastel like pinks blues purples. Not sure this is porcelain berry

  • Gsd3662601 Gsd3662601 on Jan 10, 2017

    Yes! I agree! Before you eat anything make sure it is safe!

  • Cathy Cathy on Jan 23, 2017

    Elderberry!!

  • Caroline Maag Caroline Maag on Jan 28, 2017

    Definitely elderbery

  • GoddessOdd GoddessOdd on Feb 04, 2017

    I agree, definitely elderberry, especially if you live in NW FL, they are common all over the state. All parts of the plant are said to have medicinal properties; from just one plant you get tea from the leaves and berries, wine, juice and jelly from the fruit, all very healthy. Also, these are very important food source for birds and other wildlife, and if you watch, you'll see birds flocking to the berries, and bees and butterflies to the flowers. These are "volunteers" springing up from berries from nearby elderberries, bird droppings containing seeds, etc.

  • Sharon Laird Sharon Laird on Feb 08, 2017

    Elderberry. I did not know you could eat them>

  • Sus20129043 Sus20129043 on Feb 08, 2017

    Looks like "Elderberry" to me , but you could take a leaf and berry to your local garden club or your county extention office and make sure. If it is Elderberry, you have a great find for juice ,wine , jam or jelly , I wish I had one.