How to Find Wild Elderberry + Benefits & Uses!

Added: 2026-05-23

[00:00:00]Hey guys, today we're going to talk about the elderberry plant. This is one of the most beneficial uh and widely recognized medicinal and edible foods growing in North America.

[00:00:15]Grows in Europe, too. Different variety, but pretty much same benefits. So, let's talk a little bit about the elderberry, what you can do with it, medicinal benefits, and how to identify it.

[00:00:28]That characteristic deep color that is found in elderberries comes from anthsyanins which are a type of antioxidant that is loaded with immuneup supporting properties. In fact, much more than can be found in most domestic sources like cranberries or blueberries. They work by lowering oxidative stress in the body, protecting the organs and detoxing the blood. It also helps your immune cells to communicate more effectively so that the body can attack invading pathogens all while at the same time cleaning up the mess that has been left by previous ones. Yet, as you may have already seen, the biggest claim to fame for elderberry is its scientifically studied and proven ability to fight off colds and flu.

[00:01:17]Multiple clinical studies have shown that if you take elderberry extract at the onset of symptoms, it can reduce the duration and severity of the flu by up to 4 days. It helps to block the virus from attaching to your cells, which means that it not only shortens the infection, but can also serve as a preventative. Elderberry contains vitamins's C, vitamin A, vitamin B6, iron and calcium. It also contains flavonols like quirkin and kemperol.

[00:01:53]These compounds are linked to heart health, improved circulation and cellular defense. The antioxidants found in elderberry like anthocyanins and phinoic acid also support heart health by helping to reduce cholesterol and improving blood pressure. They produce natural anti-inflammatory properties as well, which means that it's great for overall cellular and metabolic health.

[00:02:22]So, now that we see what they look like in ripeness, I'm going to take you back a few months to show you what they look like in bloom because that's really the easiest time to identify if you have one around you.

[00:02:36]Hey guys, it's the end of May, beginning of June, and this is the perfect time of year to check your property and see if you have elderberry because they're really easy to identify. They're putting on their blooms. So, let's look closer at it. If you look really close at the flowers, they're pretty easy to identify. They look like little stars with little yellow um antenna coming out all over little pistons.

[00:03:08]And these will turn into little fruit which will then turn purple or red or black.

[00:03:18]You want to make sure that there are large, broad flowering heads. Using my hand, you can see they're pretty big.

[00:03:29]There are copycat plants that don't make the big broad heads like poke berry, which you don't want to eat. I'll give you a picture of that.

[00:03:39]So, you want to make sure you have big heads.

[00:03:43]Some varieties have these very light colored green stems while other varieties like Adam elderberries have a little bit more of a reddish purplish stem right at the berry head. The shoots come out across from each other diagonal. And then when you get to the leaves themselves, they come out opposite each other.

[00:04:09]They're not staggered. They're opposite.

[00:04:11]the American wild variety, which is what these are all over my property. Um, they have a long slender leaf. And if you look really close, there's a serrated edge on it.

[00:04:28]Some of the domestic varieties have a little bit fatter. The European ones have a little bit of a fatter leaf.

[00:04:36]When you get in really close to the bark, you'll find these little risen bumps on the bark.

[00:04:46]That will help you to identify correctly as well. Older growth bark will be darker in the American variety and new growth will come out of it lighter green. It'll almost look like two completely different plants, but that's an easier way to help you identify it as well.

[00:05:08]Flower heads on the elderberry are edible. They're used in teas um and tinctures. They have a very delicate and light taste. You can harvest them in the early summer, but of course you would want to leave most of it until late summer, early fall when you would be harvesting the berries for their medicinal purposes.

[00:05:29]Elderberry flower has a light floral fragrance and you will find it usually growing where there is abundant water.

[00:05:37]One of the things about elderberry that could be kind of confusing is that some say it's toxic, some say it isn't. So, what is the truth about it? Well, the truth is is that technically it is mildly toxic. However, when we think that something is poisonous or toxic, we tend to think that it's deadly. That's not what it means. It just means that it can have adverse effects on the body.

[00:06:01]So, in this case, whenever you read that elderberry has is poisonous or is toxic, it really means that it can make you sick to your stomach. You can get a little nauseous or have a tummy ache from it. Some people are very sensitive to it. Some people aren't. Some people eat them all the time with no problems.

[00:06:24]Now, the truth is is they don't taste that great straight off the plant. So, most people are not going to eat them that way. They're going to process them.

[00:06:32]And the toxin, the compound in them that is known to make people sick to their stomach is completely destroyed by heat.

[00:06:40]So once you cook it, make a syrup or a jelly or anything with it, it's no longer a problem. So that's how most people consume it. But even if you did eat it raw, it might make you a little sick to your stomach. It might give you tummy ache. It might make you a little nauseous if you're really sensitive to it. But it's not going to kill you as long as it really is an elderberry. In fact, the elderberry that's used to make the syrups and jellies and gummies that you buy in the store is the European uh elderberry, and it actually has a lot more of that compound in it than the wild American version does. So, it's really a very safe edible herb.

[00:07:18]When you're harvesting elderberry, you want to make sure that you're only harvesting the ripe berries. If there's any green ones in it, you need to remove them because those are going to be uh more potent in making you sick to your stomach. So, you see there's a few little green ones. We don't want those.

[00:07:34]We only want the ripe ones.

[00:07:38]So, when they're in bloom, you can make a tea from the flowers. or when they're in a fruing stage, you can make pies, jellies, um syrups are very common, gummies, you know, you buy those in the health food stores. You could actually dry them, too. Dehydrate into a powder or freeze dry, remove the seeds and just keep the powder that you can add to your teas or anything like that, lemonades throughout the year for a little antioxidant and health boost. I hope that you have found this information helpful. Make sure that you check all of our other videos. We have a whole playlist of easy to identify wild food with medicinal value. Thank you for your ongoing support as we ever endeavor to help you to live healthy, simply, and more inexpensively.

[00:08:27]Thanks for watching and growing with us daily. We appreciate you all. And as always, we'll see you next time.