Blue elderberry, a California native plant, is often protected in the wild as the host plant of the endangered valley longhorn beetle. (Carla Resnick/Contributed) Elderberry flowers. (Mike Flanner/Contributed) Gardeners looking for a drought-tolerant and highly disease-resistant native shrub might consider adding the blue elderberry (Sambucus cerulean also known as Sambucus Mexicana) to their landscape.
This species of elderberry is native to the West coast of North America at elevations ranging from sea level to 10,000 feet from Baja to British Columbia. Although it is drought tolerant, it can be considered riparian because it prefers moist locations near rivers or springs. It will also show itself to be particularly thankful for fertile, nitrogen-rich soils.
This elderberry’s habitat ranges from desert to temperate rainforest, thriving in both full shade and full sun. In good growing conditions in the wild it can reach up to 30 feet high. Its growing habit creates a wide bramble that puts on a spectacular show of flowers and berries in season, but becomes a bit ratty as the summer heat wears on.
The elderberry can be identified through its flowers in late spring and bunches of blueish berries in mid to late-summer. Typically, hundreds of tiny flowers comprise what appears to be one light cream-colored flower in skyward-facing bunches. A waxy coating on the purple berries gives them their blueish finish.
Another distinctive characteristic is that the elderberry is among th.