Sambucus sieboldiana

Sambucus sieboldiana, commonly called the Japanese red elder, is a deciduous shrub in the moschatel family (Adoxaceae). It is native to East Asia, where it is found in Japan and Korea.[1] Its natural habitat is in thickets and forest edges, in low elevations.[2] It is a common species throughout its range.

Sambucus sieboldiana
Shrub in flower
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Dipsacales
Family: Adoxaceae
Genus: Sambucus
Species:
S. sieboldiana
Binomial name
Sambucus sieboldiana
(Miquel) Blume ex Schwerin

Description

It is a deciduous shrub or small tree growing up to a height of 4 metres (13 ft) tall. Its leaves are opposite and pinnately compound, with 5-7 toothed leaflets. It produces a panicle of small white flowers in late spring, which are insect pollinated and hermaphroditic.[3] Its fruits are ~4 mm long, red, and round.[2] They are dispersed by birds.[4]

  • Mature red fruits

Taxonomy

The Latin specific epithet sieboldiana refers to German physician and botanist Philipp Franz von Siebold (1796-1866).[5]

A closely related plant in China, Sambucus williamsii, was once included in Sambucus sieboldiana but is now classified as a separate species.[1]

Toxins

Members of this genus are poisonous and the fruit has been known to cause stomach upsets in some people, but no records of this have been found for S. sieboldiana; any toxins that may be in the fruit would be destroyed upon cooking and would have a low toxicity.

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References
  1. Sambucus racemosa ssp. sieboldiana (in Japanese), Flora of Mikawa
  2. Ohwi, Jisaburo (1965). Flora of Japan. Smithsonian Institution. p. 771.
  3. "Sambucus sieboldiana PFAF Plant Database". www.pfaf.org. Retrieved 2017-12-29.
  4. Sambucus racemosa ssp. sieboldiana (in Japanese), Okayama University Plant Ecology Laboratory
  5. D. Gledhill The A to Z of Plant Names: A Quick Reference Guide to 4000 Garden Plants, p. 107, at Google Books


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