Herbaceous Elderberry.

Elderberry: description, use and medicinal properties

Elderberry (lat. Sambucus ebulus) is a perennial herbaceous plant of the honeysuckle family, which is common in Central and Southern Europe, Moldova, southern Ukraine and the North Caucasus. The plant can reach a height of up to 2 meters, and has a branched stem with grooved and loose wood. The leaves of the herbaceous elderberry are imparipinnate, with oblong leaves. The flowers are white and pink, collected in umbellate inflorescences. The plant blooms in June-July, and the fruit is a dark purple, spherical drupe berry with three hard seeds and an unpleasant odor.

The herbaceous elderberry grows near housing, along roads, in weedy places and clearings, along river banks, forest edges and mountain slopes. Sometimes it forms thickets. In Ancient Greece and Rome, elderberry was considered a sacred plant, and nowadays it is cultivated as an ornamental plant.

In the national economy, elderberry is used for weaving baskets and making wind instruments. Elderberries are a good dye for cotton and woolen fabrics, and the juice is used to color wines. Elderberry leaves have a specific smell and are used to repel flies and small rodents.

In addition, elderberry has medicinal properties. In folk medicine, its preparations are used as a diuretic, antiseptic, expectorant and diaphoretic. They are recommended for catarrh of the upper respiratory tract, neuralgia, urticaria, rheumatism, gout, and also as a laxative.

For tuberculosis and hemorrhoids, jam made from elderberries is used. Thick fruit extract improves appetite and stimulates the formation of red blood cells. A decoction of the roots has proven itself well for kidney diseases, a decoction of the leaves - for intestinal colic and spastic colitis.

But do not forget that elderberry preparations are heterogeneous in composition. The fruits contain essential oils, sambucyanin (coloring matter), tannins, bitterness, organic acids (valeric, tartaric and malic), carotene, vitamin C and other useful substances. However, the roots and shoots of elderberry contain toxic alkaloids that can cause serious poisoning, so their use internally should only occur under medical supervision.

In general, elderberry has a wide range of medicinal properties, however, before using it as a medicine, you should consult your doctor and follow the recommendations for dosage and method of use.