Common Elderberry
Sambucus canadensis
Found in floodplain and bottomland forests; forests and woodlands; streams, rivers and their banks; forest edges and thickets; freshwater marshes; swamps; seeps and springs; ponds, lakes and their shores; roadsides, fields and disturbed ground. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), South Central edition What its natural habitat tells you
75
Strong
Native to Alabama. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 100%
- Height
- 5–12 feet
- Spread
- 6–12 feet
- Light
- Full sun, Partial shade
- Soil moisture
- Usually moist
Space about 9 ft apart from its recorded spread. Enter your bed size for a count
Will it fit your yard?
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Woody perennial
- Leaves
- Deciduous
- Bloom
- Spring and summer
- Fruiting season
- July to August
Recorded in 64 Alabama counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
1 of 9
Floodplain and bottomland forests
Forests on low ground beside rivers and streams that flood from time to time.
Streams, rivers and their banks
Flowing water and its banks, bars and rocky shoals.
Places where groundwater keeps the soil or rock wet, such as seepage slopes and spring runs.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Ecological relationships
Who uses this plant?
29CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including AL
Genus host records with ranges including AL · Sambucus
- Achatodes zeaeElder Shoot Border Moth, Spindele Worm, Cornstalk Borer
- Aethalura intertextaFour-Barred Gray
- Anania tertialisCrowned Anania, Crowned Phlyctaenia
- Anavitrinella pampinariaCommon Gray, Cranberry Spanworm
- Antheraea polyphemusPolyphemus Moth
- Callima argenticinctellaOrange-Headed Epicallima
- Coelodasys unicornisUnicorn Caterpillar Moth
- Eacles imperialisImperial Moth, Imperial Spiny Caterpillar
- Ectropis crepusculariaThe Small Engrailed, Saddleback Looper
- Episimus argutanaSumac Leaftier
Show all 29
- Estigmene acreaSalt Marsh Moth, Acrea Moth
- Euplexia benesimilisAmerican Angle Shades
- Eutrapela clematariaCurved-Tooth Geometer, Purplish Brown Looper
- Hyalophora cecropiaCecropia Silkmoth, Cecropia Moth
- Hyles lineataWhite-Lined Sphinx
- Hyphantria cuneaFall Webworm
- Iridopsis larvariaBent-Line Gray
- Orgyia leucostigmaWhite-Marked Tussock Moth
- Orthosia hibisciSpeckled Green Fruitworm Moth, Speckled Green Quaker
- Orthosia rubescensRuby Quaker
- Papaipema cataphractaBurdock Border, Potato-Stalk Borer
- Papaipema nebrisStalk Borer
- Paralobesia viteanaAmerican Vine Moth, Grape Berry Moth
- Proteoteras moffatianaMaple Bud Borer, Maple Shoot Borer
- Spilosoma virginicaVirginian Tiger Moth, Yellow Woolybear Moth, Yellow Bear
- Tetracis crocallataYellow Slant-Line
- Thyridopteryx ephemeraeformisEvergreen Bagworm Moth
- Paralobesia rhoifructana
- Paralobesia sambuci
3BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Sambucus
Individual names are not available yet.
Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
0Specialist beesPollen specialists
49BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Sambucus
- Anthus rubescensAmerican Pipit
- Aphelocoma californicaCalifornia Scrub-Jay
- Bonasa umbellusRuffed Grouse
- Callipepla californicaCalifornia Quail
- Cardinalis cardinalisNorthern Cardinal
- Catharus fuscescensVeery
- Catharus guttatusHermit Thrush
- Catharus minimus/bicknelliGray-cheeked/Bicknell's Thrush
- Catharus ustulatusSwainson's Thrush
- Coccothraustes vespertinusEvening Grosbeak
Show all 49
- Contopus virensEastern Wood-Pewee
- Cyanocitta stelleriSteller's Jay
- Dendragapus obscurusDusky Grouse
- Dryobates pubescensDowny Woodpecker
- Dryobates villosusHairy Woodpecker
- Empidonax alnorum/trailliiAlder/Willow Flycatcher (Traill's Flycatcher)
- Empidonax difficilisPacific-slope Flycatcher
- Hylocichla mustelinaWood Thrush
- Icterus bullockiiBullock's Oriole
- Melanerpes formicivorusAcorn Woodpecker
- Melospiza melodiaSong Sparrow
- Melozone crissalisCalifornia Towhee
- Myadestes townsendiTownsend's Solitaire
- Myiarchus cinerascensAsh-throated Flycatcher
- Oreortyx pictusMountain Quail
- Passerina cyaneaIndigo Bunting
- Patagioenas fasciataBand-tailed Pigeon
- Pheucticus ludovicianusRose-breasted Grosbeak
- Pheucticus melanocephalusBlack-headed Grosbeak
- Pipilo maculatusSpotted Towhee
- Piranga ludovicianaWestern Tanager
- Sayornis nigricansBlack Phoebe
- Sayornis sayaSay's Phoebe
- Sialia currucoidesMountain Bluebird
- Sialia mexicanaWestern Bluebird
- Sialia sialisEastern Bluebird
- Sphyrapicus variusYellow-bellied Sapsucker
- Toxostoma redivivumCalifornia Thrasher
- Turdus migratoriusAmerican Robin
- Tyrannus tyrannusEastern Kingbird
- Tyrannus verticalisWestern Kingbird
- Vireo belliiBell's Vireo
- Vireo gilvusWarbling Vireo
- Vireo griseusWhite-eyed Vireo
- Vireo huttoniHutton's Vireo
- Vireo olivaceusRed-eyed Vireo
- Vireo solitariusBlue-headed Vireo
- Zonotrichia atricapillaGolden-crowned Sparrow
- Zonotrichia leucophrysWhite-crowned Sparrow
Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening
Beetles 4
- Attagenus piceus
- Euderces picipes
- Euphoria fulgida
- Pentaria trifasciata
Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA
Flies 9
- Anthrax sinuosa
- Baccha fuscipennis
- Eristalis tenax
- Musca domestica
- Orthoneura nitida
- Spilomyia hamifera
- Syrphus americanus
- Syrphus ribesii
- Xylota fraudulosa
Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA
No records yet · Ants · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Growing and identification
Plant details
- Family
- Viburnaceae
- Hardiness
- Zones 4a–8b
- Soil pH
- Acidic to neutral
- Flower color
- White
- Growth rate
- Rapid
- Growth habit
- Several stems
- Foliage color
- Green
- Fruit begins
- July
- Fruit ends
- August
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “Spring and summer” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition, USDA PLANTS, Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differ)
- Flower color · “White” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Foliage color · “Green” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Fruit begins · “July” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition (ranked first; USDA PLANTS differs) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Fruit ends · “August” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition (ranked first; USDA PLANTS differs) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Growth habit · “Several stems” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Growth rate · “Rapid” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Hardiness · “Zones 4a–8b” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Height · “5–12 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; USDA PLANTS, Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differ)
- Leaves · “Deciduous” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Life cycle · “Woody perennial” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Light · “Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day); Partial shade (direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Virginia DCR Piedmont, Virginia DCR Coastal Plain, Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differ)
- primary_flower_color · “white” · USDA PLANTS
- Soil · “Good drainage; Moist; Occasionally wet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Virginia DCR Piedmont, Virginia DCR Coastal Plain, Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differ)
- Soil pH · “Acidic to neutral” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Spread · “6–12 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Also known as
American Black Elderberry; Sambucus nigra subsp. canadensis
Conservation status
| Alabama rank | SNR |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G5 |
| AL status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
In your garden
Will it fit your yard?
Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.
Choose a county to begin.
Growing cautions
- Suckers and forms colonies. Forms thickets unless root suckers are removed. NC State Extension Plant Toolbox
For planning only; these do not change the score or Fit.
Sources
- Alabama Plant Atlas
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025)
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications