2. Sambucus pubens Michx. (red-berried elderberry, stinking elderberry)

S. racemosa ssp. pubens (Michx.) House

Map 1430, Pl. 336 h

Plants shrubs or small trees 1–4 m tall (to 8 m elsewhere), usually with stout, spreading rootstocks and suckering from the roots. Bark grayish brown to greenish brown, tight, lacking ridges but appearing roughened or warty. Twigs 4–8 mm thick, the pith brown. Leaves with the petiole 2.5–7.0 cm long, sparsely to moderately short-hairy. Leaflets 5–7 per leaf, 5–19 cm long, 2.5–6.0 cm wide, lanceolate to narrowly oblong or elliptic, the upper surface glabrous, the undersurface usually moderately to densely pubescent with short, spreading hairs, sometimes nearly glabrous with age. Inflorescences ovoid to more or less pyramidal, the solitary main axis elongate (the side branches repeatedly branched). Corollas 3–4 mm wide, white to pale yellow. Fruits bright red, unpalatable, with an unpleasant flavor. 2n=36. April–May.

Uncommon, known thus far only from Marion County (northern U.S. [including Alaska] south to California, Missouri, and Georgia; Canada). Ledges and tops of bluffs and mesic upland forests.

This species is closely related to S. racemosa L., a species that is widespread in Eurasia in similar habitats. Sambucus pubens usually has much larger leaves, with more oblong lateral leaflets, and larger, more open inflorescences than S. racemosa. All of these characters are variable, however. Occasional specimens from the two continents are very similar, and the two taxa are sometimes considered subspecies of one widespread species.

The fruits are unpalatable, and some references list them as mildly poisonous.