Sambucus williamsii seed

LATIN NAME: Sambucus williamsii

COMMON NAME: Williams’ Elder

The Williams’ elder is a handsome, upright, many-branched, deciduous shrub or small tree of the moist places, and its fine, pinnate leaves of the many oval leaflets and its fine, flat-topped clusters of the many small, white or creamy-white, fragrant flowers, followed by the dense clusters of the small, round, red or dark, fleshy berries, have made it a treasured and fine plant of the region. It grows as an upright, many-branched, deciduous shrub or small tree, reaching up to eight metres or more, with the upright, branching stems bearing the opposite, pinnate leaves of the many oval, pointed, toothed leaflets and, through the late spring, the fine, flat-topped clusters of the many small, white or creamy-white, fragrant flowers, followed by the dense clusters of the small, round, red or dark, fleshy, few-seeded berries. It is a species of the flowering shrub in the moschatel family, and it is native to the moist places of the eastern Asia, while it is treasured for its long history of traditional use, and it is known as the Williams’ elder.

In the moschatel family it is the flat-headed, dark-berried elder of the moist places, a shrub the birds and the old practice of the east have both known well.

Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology

The Williams’ elder roots and parts are a familiar subject in the traditional plant chemistry of the eastern Asia, and the constituents have been examined with the greatest care by the researchers across the world. The botanists have mapped its place in the moschatel family and the moist-place flora, and the wildlife ecologists have watched the insects on the flat, white heads and the birds in the dark-berried clusters. The plant is best appreciated as a subject of study rather than a casual remedy, and the growers of the wildlife garden keep it in their catalogues.

Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications

In the wildlife garden, the Williams’ elder is the flat-headed shrub that feeds everything. Its white, fragrant heads feed the insects, its dense clusters of the dark berries feed the birds of the late summer, and the leafy growth gives cover and shelter through the year. The traditional use of the region keeps the plant in the old practice, and it grows well in the moist, open, well-drained ground. White-flowered, dark-berried and generous.

Clean the seeds out of the dark berries and give them a cold, damp rest in a bag of moist sand in the fridge, then sow them shallowly in pots of loamy, free-draining soil, keep them moist and set the pots in a bright, sheltered spot, and they’ll come along steadily.