Hi: I am wondering if anyone can help to identify this elderberry. Many of the sites I have looked at refer to red elderberry S. racemosa. But the description of the berry always states that the berries are bright red or sometimes yellow. I have found descriptions of S. melanocarpa but the sites have described the fruiting time as normally Aug/Sept timeframe. This one flowers in early May and has ripe fruit in 2nd week of July. I've attached some photos of the flower/berries. These are dark red to blackish, definitely not yellow or bright red. Thanks JeanetteB
I have seen Pacific red elder in purple, red, orange, and yellow. In some places the purple ones are predominant.
This is not the Sambucus mexicana and not the wild variety that grows in the BC interior because it has a powdery robins egg blue coating on the berries, known as Sambucus nigra var.caerulea. But because the fruit is actually deep Red berries the cultivar Berryhill seems to fit the bill as it also is early flowering and ripens about that time it is not likely any of the European varieties because they tend to grow as a tree with a single stalk the other common North American cultivated varieties produce deep purple fruits if the plant is growing in the wild from seed it may well be a cross between two varieties .
