Tree of Legends

One of the old European legends says that a certain nobleman, hunting in a dense forest, fell behind his retinue, got lost, and went out to a lonely hut, where a weeping old man sat. When asked about the reason for the tears, the old man complained that his father had hurt him, because when he was carrying his grandfather in his arms, he dropped it. The astonished grandee went into the house and saw two more ancient elders there. Struck by what he saw, he began to cry out from the old people, as they managed to live up to such respectable years. And they said that all their lives they live in the forest, they cultivate the land, and they feed mainly on bread, milk and cheese. And they always eat black elderberry, which they owe to their longevity.

People have long noticed this tree, and have known its useful properties for a long time. Especially loved was the black elderberry from the Germans, Danes, Poles, Czechs. This is reflected in the folklore of these peoples: their proverbs, fairy tales, customs. How can you not remember, inspired by folk life, not too well-known, the fairy tale of G. H. Andersen's “Elder grandmother”, in which the infusion of elderberry was treated for a cold. All the peoples of the center of Europe, the elder was revered for the sacred tree, contributing to the extension of life, giving the opportunity to know the future. Elderberry fruits and flowers were widely used by the people as food products and medicinal raw materials.
Since the natural range of black elder was shifted to the south, in the Russian Empire it was known only in the southern black earth provinces, in Ukraine, in Belarus, and in the Baltic states. Traditional medicine in these areas used elderberry for the treatment of colds, rheumatism, radiculitis, bowel and stomach diseases, skin diseases, gout, kidney diseases and many other ailments.

Recognized black elderberry and scientific medicine. Elderberry flowers are an excellent diaphoretic agent. Phytotherapists prescribe an infusion of flowers for various colds: sore throat, cough, flu, rheumatism ... Elderberry extracts are used for colitis and constipation as a laxative.

Outwardly, black elderberry (Sambucus nigra) is very similar to elder red or cystic (Sambucus racemosa), its sister, however, not marked by such obvious beneficial qualities. Their differences become noticeable during flowering. In black elderberry flowers are collected in fairly large umbellate inflorescences with a diameter of up to 25 cm, and in red, similar greenish-yellow, nondescript flowers are crowded into denser brushes up to 6 cm in diameter. Black elderberry berries are dark blue or almost black, edible. Other botanical features for both types of elderberry is a sharp unpleasant smell of leaves, however, more pronounced in red elderberry.

Black elder in the southern areas can reach a height of 8-10m, and there grows a tree. Under Vladimir, this is already a low (up to 4m) shrub with several low-branchy, grayish trunks. Despite its southern origin, it grows with us quite steadily, it blooms and bears fruit every year, produces ripened fruits and viable seeds. At the same time, there is no year to year, sometimes the bushes literally bend under the weight of the fruit, and sometimes the harvest of the fruit is very poor. Occasionally, the wood is completely non-cracking, and is damaged by frost in winter, but the plant quickly recovers and is able to grow 2 m over the summer. I think it is realistic to cultivate black elderberry in much more northern areas.