Mexican Elder
Sambucus nigra caerulea
Sambucus mexicana
TREE: Large shrub or small tree with usu. multiple trunks and dark green
leaves.
RANGE: Fairly common in riparian zones as a component of mesquite
bosques mostly at elevations above 800 m in the Sonoran Desert of Arizona.
Occasionally used in landscaping in Tucson and Phoenix, Arizona. Various
taxonomic treatments have lumped or split the Mexican Elder with other
populations of the Blue Elderberry that ranges through much of the western
United States.
FLOWERS: Large, flat topped panicles of small white flowers in mid to
late spring and occasionally into summer.
FRUIT: Small dark berries, summer to fall.
UNARMED.
LEAVES: Large compound leaves are opposite on the stems.