Sambucus williamsii Seeds | Williams’ Elder
LATIN NAME: Sambucus williamsii
COMMON NAME: Williams’ Elder
Plant Profile
Williams’ elder is a deciduous shrub of the elder family, native to China, Korea and Japan, where it grows in moist thickets, on stream banks and at forest edges. It reaches four to eight metres, with stout, pithy stems that are reddish-brown on the young growth and grey and fissured on old wood.
The leaves are pinnate, with five to seven leaflets, and they are among the first to open in spring. In May and June the plant carries flat heads of small, creamy-white flowers, followed by clusters of small, dark red to black berries in late summer. The whole plant has a faint, unpleasant smell when bruised, which is characteristic of the genus and is strongest in the leaves.
Science & Biotechnology
The elder genus has been moved from Caprifoliaceae to Adoxaceae on the strength of molecular evidence, and Sambucus williamsii sits with the Asian elders that have red or dark fruit rather than the black fruit of the European Sambucus nigra. The species is close to Sambucus sieboldiana of Japan and to Sambucus adnata of the Himalayas, and the three replace one another from Japan westward across China.
The berries contain anthocyanins, and the stems contain cyanogenic glycosides, as do those of all elders; the concentration is highest in the leaves and in the unripe fruit. The plant’s Chinese name, jie gu mu, means bone-setting elder, and it reflects a long medicinal use of the stems rather than any edible value. The wood is hard and white and has been used for skewers and for small turned objects.
Uses & Benefits
In Chinese practice the stems and branches are used in decoctions for bone and joint injury, and the plant appears in the pharmacopoeia under that name; the leaves are applied externally and the fruit is used less often. It should be emphasised that this is a professional preparation: the raw plant contains cyanogenic glycosides and is not a kitchen herb.
In the garden the shrub is grown for its flat heads of flower, its dark fruit and its value to wildlife. The berries feed thrushes and warblers, and the flowers are worked by small bees and hoverflies. It suckers and layers freely, which makes it useful for a damp corner or a wildlife hedge, and it can be cut back hard in winter if it outgrows its space.
Growing from Seed
Elder seed has a double dormancy and needs warmth followed by cold. Sow in late summer in a pot of loam and leafmould, keep it warm for six weeks, then leave it outside for the winter; germination comes in spring. Cleaning the pulp from the seed improves results, since the fruit contains inhibitors.
The seedlings are fast-growing and can be planted out in their second year. Alternatively, take hardwood cuttings in winter, which root easily, or lift the suckers that appear around an established plant. Plant in any soil, in sun or part shade, and cut the young shrub back after planting to make it bush out. Prune in winter if needed, removing old stems at the base; the plant flowers on the previous year’s wood, so heavy pruning costs a season of bloom.
Our Take
A wildlife shrub for damp ground, with flat heads of flower and dark fruit. Plant it for birds, not for the kitchen.
Related Reading
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