Location: Southern California, Sunset zone 21, US Department of Agriculture zone 10b
Photo:
My friend asked me to help her identify this tree. It is growing at the house she recently bought. Note the clusters of small purple berries. It does not look familiar to me. Is it familiar to anyone else?
It looks like an elderberry.
It's definitely not an elderberry . Tree is way too big , and the berry clusters are the wrong shape .
One look and I thought elderberry. Mainly from the distinctive fruit.
I haven't seen one in more than 50 years. We had a stand of bushes, so they didn't look like that tree, but I just checked Wikipedia and they cite trees 15 meters (or 49 ft.) tall. The leaf shape matches. So I'd still guess elderberry. In this case in tree form possibly because it's in California.
The elderberries I'm familiar with are only around 10 feet tall max and the fruit is different - here's a link .
Sunset's "Western Garden Book" says that the blue elderberry (Sambucus mexicana, aka S. caerulea) grows 10-30 feet tall and 8-20 feet wide. This species is the only elderberry (with one exception) that can take the summer heat of southern California away from the coast. The exception is a variety of the red elderberry (S. racemosa racemosa, aka S. callicarpa), which has berries that ripen bright red.
Have something to add? Share your thoughts — no account required.
Ask the community — no account required