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More than 100 names for species, subspecies and varieties of Sambucus, elderberry, have been created so far but no more than about 30 of these are usually taken into account in Floras. This is due to the work of F. Graf von Schwerin, the first to give comprehensive treatents of the genus in 1909 and 1920. As he grew the majority of the species and many cultivars in his garden in northern Germany, he was able to observe the great variability of pubescence and carpel merosity, formerly regarded as important diagnostic characters, and consequently he reduced the number of species recognized by him to 28.
However, as typical of his time, he still overestimated the systematic value of vegetative characters and fruit colour variants, maintaining or even newly describing species of very doubtful status.
Still, we are confronted with an intriguing and puzzling variability and heterogeneity within the genus, despite its homogeneous and characteristic general appearance. Whereas branching architecture, leaves, inflorescences and flowers are extremely similar in all species, life forms and fruit colours differ notably between populations in definite geographic ranges. The close relationships within the genus are further reflected by a striking ecological similarity. All Sambucus species prefer moist and nutrient-rich habitats. Only two taxa are resistant to seasonal drought. In their natural habitats, but especially in secondary stations, which are invaded by all species, the stout perennials or many-branched shrubs or trees grow very fast. They may either colonize wide areas as pioneers or become integrated into the shrub layers of various, mainly mesophytic, woodland ecosystems.
Moreover, the uniqueness of the genus gives good reasons for classifying Sambucus in a family all by itself, Sambucaceae. The only approach to unravelling these complex variation patterns is to search for new characters with the modern methods from different biological disciplines such as morphology, cytology, phytochemistry, and biogeography. The results of this multidisciplinary approach will permit to unravel the systematic relationships within the genus and put forward an appropriate taxonomy. While describing variability patterns of each of the species, an attempt was made to keep their world-wide connections in mind. This taxonomic revision was undertaken from a global point of view and the conclusion was reached that many closely similar taxa must be placed together in a small number of species, rather than putting them in a large array of hardly definable, allegedly distinct species. I hope that the Sambucus taxonomy here proposed here will be useful for both field and herbarium botanists.Beyond the interest of botanists, elders are popular and widely known plants. Leaf and flower extracts, and occasionally fruits, are used in herbal medicine, for treating colds and coughs, by almost all cultures of both the Old and the New World where Sambucus occurs. The fruits are widely used as raw material for preparing a delicious syrup, jam or wine. Yet, the question of toxicity of some species is under debate in popular herb books. Thus, it is understandable that some Sambucus species have successfully followed man’s cultivation.