MIRACLES OF OAK & ELDERS

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WHERE FOUND: Oaks are native both to the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere and to the mountains of the tropics. Oak trees can be found in the cities, mountains, deserts, valleys, and in chaparral areas.

GROWING CYCLE: Acorns mature and fall from the trees during September and October.

ELDER

Honeysuckle Family (Sambucus sp.) (Caprifoliaceae)

OVERALL SHAPE AND SIZE: Elders can grow either as shrubs, or as small trees to ten feet tall.

LEAVES: The light-green compound leaves are divided into five to eleven leaflets. The leaves are opposite each other, and have slightly serrated margins.

FLOWERS: The small, white flowers grow in flat-topped clusters or conical clusters of two to six inches across. The flowers are followed by small 1/8 to 1/4 inch purple, black, red, or white berries, depending on the particular species.

BENEFICIAL PROPERTIES

EDIBILITY: You can eat the dark purple berries, rich in vitamin A, with fair amounts of potassium and calcium, raw, or mashed, and blend with applesauce for a unique dessert, especially if you are using wild apples. You can also use the berries for making wines, jellies, jams, and pies. The red and white berries are not recommended for food, some having toxic qualities.

You can gather and dip the whole flower cluster in batter, and fry it, producing a wholesome pancake. Try dipping the flower clusters in a batter of the sweet yellow cattail pollen and frying them like pancakes. Wild food at its best.

You can also mix the dried flowers, removed from the cluster, into flour for baking pastries, breads, etc.

MEDICINALITY: Tea made from the flowers induces sweating; as such, it is said to be useful for colds, fevers, and headaches associated with colds. You can use a poultice of the leaves for wounds, sprains, and swellings. Use a tea of the fresh or dried leaves as a wash for skin infections.

DETRIMENTAL PROPERTIES: The foliage and root are poisonous if eaten. It affects like a purgative. The red and white berries are not recommended for food, some having bitter or toxic qualities. The edible purple and black berries cause nausea for some if eaten raw. Cooked, they are harmless. I've seen children chewing on the pithy core of the dried elderberry stems many times. I have often done so also, and thus conclude that the DRIED stems are not harmful, at least not in small amounts. However, the green stalks can be harmful if eaten. Wilma Roberts James, author of Know Your Poisonous Plants (Nature Graph, 1973) says that children who have made whistles and blowguns from the dried elder stems have been poisoned. Unfortunately, she does not list the specific incidents, nor does she tell what type of poisoning or how much the children in question actually consumed.

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