The Elder Tree

Sambucus nigra

HRB-0108Entry “THE ELDER TREE” in the 1850 textIn Culpeper’s 1652 first edition

Open in the Concordance

Old claims, quoted verbatim: not medical advice. A warning sits above the claims and never hides them; no warning does not mean safe, only that no source here has flagged the plant.

Substance of concernRaw bark, leaves and unripe berries are cyanogenic; the flowers and cooked ripe berries are food.EFSA: Lectins, prunasinEFSA’s list of substances, not a danger rating. Checked 26 October 2026.

Culpeper’s claims about it: 1, under 1 heading

  1. DropsyCLM-0022921850 index, pp. 67, 221

    Listed in the 1850 index; the herbal entry has no sentence naming this complaint. No quotation is recorded.

    Papers and the EMA’s verdict, in the Concordance

Source

Nicholas Culpeper, The Complete Herbal, a new edition (London: Thomas Kelly, 1850). Project Gutenberg eBook #49513. SRC-CUL-1850

Quotations are verbatim from the 1850 text, line breaks joined. Modern research and the European regulator’s verdict on each claim are on the Concordance page, kept apart from this historical record.