Elderflower’s sweet blossoms lend their flavor to syrups cordials, and treats. With foraging’s popularity more people seek these fragrant blooms each spring. However, correct identification is crucial since elderflowers visually resemble several toxic plants. Arm yourself with knowledge to distinguish elderflower from dangerous lookalikes before foraging.
What is Elderflower?
Elderflower refers to flower clusters blooming on elderberry bushes in late spring through early summer. Elderberries grow across the UK along roadsides and woodlands. In late May, elderberry bushes bear bunches of tiny white blossoms. Later, flowers become purple elderberries.
Key Traits of Elderflower
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Grow in flat clusters called cymes, not single flowers. Each cyme contains hundreds of small white blooms.
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Flowers have 5 cream-colored petals around yellow centers
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Arranged in an umbrella pattern rather than conical
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Emerge on woody shrubs or small trees, not herbaceous plants.
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Leaves are oval, toothed, in groups of 5-9 leaflets.
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Mature bushes or trees reach 10+ feet tall.
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Flowers and leaves have a sweet, floral scent.
Toxic Flowers Often Confused with Elderflower
While elderflowers are not poisonous, some toxic plants resemble them. Always examine the whole plant, not just the flowers. Consider leaves, stems, bark, height, and habitat. Here are major toxic elderflower lookalikes:
Water Hemlock
Perhaps the most dangerous imposter is water hemlock. This herbaceous plant has lacy leaves and white umbrella flowers like elderflower. However, water hemlock has smooth, not toothed leaves. It also lacks a woody trunk and branches. The stem is hollow with purple spots, not grayish like elderberry.
Giant Hogweed
A cow parsnip relative, giant hogweed towers up to 14 feet tall. Its massive umbrella-shaped flowerheads can reach 2.5 feet wide. Deeply lobed leaves may reach 5 feet across. Sap causes severe blistering rashes.
Cow Parsley
Reaching 3-4 feet tall, cow parsley emerges in spring. Lacy leaves and white blooms resemble elderflower. However, cow parsley has thin, grooved stems rather than woody ones. It also lacks elderflower’s sweet scent.
Poison Hemlock
All parts of poison hemlock are toxic. This weed thrives on roadsides and disturbed areas. White flowers sit in loose umbels on hairless green stems mottled with purple spots. Fern-like leaves emit an unpleasant odor.
Water Parsnip
Despite its name, water parsnip is not the same as water hemlock. Still, this wetland perennial bears similarity to elderflower. Water parsnip displays white blooms in compound umbels. Leaves are pinnately compound. Stems are hollow and hairless.
Cowbane
Both spotted cowbane and northern cowbane are extremely poisonous carrots. They thrive in wet areas. Each umbrella cluster contains many tiny white flowers. Leaves are alternate, doubly or triply compound.
Additional Toxic Lookalikes
A few other plants produce similar flat-topped flower clusters:
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Poison hemlock has ferny leaves and purple-spotted stems.
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Wild carrot (Queen Anne’s lace) has hairy stems and leaves that smell like carrots.
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Yarrow displays flatter umbels and feathery leaves.
While not toxic, some common ornamental shrubs also look similar:
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Hawthorn: Larger blossoms with brown anthers
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Pyracantha: Flowers not in flat cymes, viciously thorny
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Dogwood: Individual flowers, not clustered
Tips for Safely Identifying Elderflower
Correctly distinguishing elderflowers requires examining the whole plant – leaves, stems, bark, height, branching, and habitat along with the flowers. Never rely solely on the blossoms. Also learn to recognize toxic imposters through research and mentorship from experienced foragers.
Safe Foraging Practices:
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Use reputable wildfood guides and foraging courses to build identification skills.
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Forage alongside a knowledgeable mentor at first.
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Avoid collecting along roadsides or railroad tracks where chemicals may have been sprayed.
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Photograph plants to verify ID at home before consuming any part.
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Don’t just eat something because it looks like an online photo; examine the entire living plant.
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If any doubt exists about a plant’s identity, do not eat it.
With proper elderflower identification, you can safely forage these tasty blossoms to make syrups, drinks, desserts, and more. Just take care to distinguish them from potentially toxic lookalikes using the entire plant, not just the flowers. Expert mentors, research, caution, and common sense will keep you foraging safely for years.
Photinia and Pyracantha – probably poisonous
There are many non-native species of bushy shrubs in the genera of Photinia and Pyracantha which are found throughout North America, where they have been planted as ornamentals.
Some species have flowerheads that are similar to elder, white or off-white flowers that come together to make an umbel.
The leaves, while serrated like those of the elder bush, do not come together in flat compound leaves. Instead, they branch individually off the stem, though they cluster closely and may seem compound at first glance.
Some species are dangerously poisonous, some are mildly toxic. None can be considered edible and so care should be taken.
Elderflower identification and foraging: don’t confuse for deadly poisonous water hemlock
Warning: This plant has been mistaken for the very deadly water hemlock. Ingestion of water hemlock can kill in 15 minutes to 2 hours — often less time than you can get to medical attention.
Even if correctly identified, parts of the elder plant: including roots, bark, leaves and green fruit are poisonous. Only the flowers and ripe fruit are edible, in moderation, and the fruit must be cooked.
| Thanks to their etherial beauty, its easy to imagine elderflowers as magical |
The shrubs we call elder, members of the genus Sambucus, grow throughout most of the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere, and were once a staple food and medicine for many different peoples: Native Americans, Europeans, Asians and North Africans. Everywhere it grows its been revered, used as food, flavoring, in wine and liquor-making, medicine, basket making, for perfumes, natural dying and cosmetics, and ritualistically. In Europe especially, elder bushes were believed to have magical powers and to be inhabited by benevolent spirits.
| Black elderberries are the most common U.S. varieties east of the Rocky Mountains |
There are many individual species of elderberry, all in the the genus Sambucus. They are bushy shrubs or small trees bearing large clusters of white or off-white flowers, though some varieties have been cultivated to bloom pink.
Elderberries are most often defined by the color of their fruit: black, blue or red, though there will be many individual species and varieties producing fruit of each color. In Australia there are also white or yellow-white fruiting species, but I have no experience with them.
Please note: in this post we will be looking at the flowers of black elderberry, but the tips here will also apply to the flowers of blue elder. The flowers of red elder look quite different.
Elderflower: How to Identify & Avoid the Lookalikes
FAQ
What is mistaken for elderflower?
Also there are many other flowers which bloom at the same time and can be mistaken for elderflower, because they look so similar. These include cow parsley, cowbane, hemlock, hawthorn and more.
What can be mistaken for elderberry?
Pokeweed berries are commonly confused with elderberry as, individually, they look relatively similar, and they are ripe around the same time.
What is the difference between elderflower and hemlock?
Elderflower and poison hemlock are distinct plants with significant differences, particularly in their toxicity and appearance. Elderflower, from the Sambucus species, is known for its edible flowers and berries (when properly prepared), while poison hemlock (Conium maculatum) is highly toxic.