Latin name: Sambucus nigra Genus:Honeysuckle plants Folk names: Elder tree, elder, wedges, sweat tea
Plant description
Branchy shrub, up to 7 m high. Dark, unpleasantly smelling bark. Pinnate leaves, large and umbelliferous, flat inflorescences with small, yellowish-white flowers that do not smell nice.
Black-violet berries ripen from them until autumn. Flowering time: May to July. Occurrence: Spread in gardens, bushes and along streams.
Medicinally used plant parts
One harvests the flowers as whole inflorescences and dries them gently. Also the young leaves and the bark can be dried gently. The berries are harvested as soon as they are black-violet and completely ripe.
Ingredients
Flowers contain essential oils, glycosides, flavonoids, tannins. Ripe fruits are rich in vitamins and minerals.
Curative effects and application
Elderberry blossoms have a sudorific effect, similar to lime blossoms, for feverish colds. They mobilize the body’s own defenses and can be a great help in preventing colds. Like goldenrod or hypocrisy, they also have a urinary stimulating effect. Leaves and bark are rarely used, they have a weak urinary stimulating effect and are said to alleviate the symptoms of rheumatism. The juice from elderberries is rich in vitamins and minerals and has a soothing effect and boosts the immune system in colds.
Preparation
Tea from 2 heaped teaspoons of elderflower. Pour 1⁄4 l boiling water over it, let it steep for 10 minutes. For sweating with feverish colds prepare double the amount and drink the tea as warm as possible. From the berries you prepare a juice that should be boiled, because it can cause nausea and diarrhea when raw. This juice should be drunk as warm as possible and sweetened with honey.
Application in homeopathy
Sambucus nigra is used in homeopathy for rheumatic complaints, catarrhs of the upper airways, feverish colds. Especially when they are accompanied by heavy sweating (when waking up). A preferred remedy for children. Also for rheumatic complaints associated with fever and kidney problems. Most common potentiation D2, D3.