Avoid Toxic Lookalikes Flowers That Can Be Confused with Elderflower
Elderflower’s delicious blossoms lend their flavor to syrups, cordials, and other tasty treats. With the popularity of foraging on the rise, more people are seeking out these fragrant blooms each spring. However, correct identification is crucial since elderflowers share visual similarities with several toxic plants. Arm yourself with the knowledge to distinguish elderflower from dangerous lookalikes before your foraging adventures.
Characteristics of Elderflower
Elderflower refers to the flower clusters that bloom on elderberry bushes in late spring through early summer. There are a few key features to look for when identifying elderflowers:
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Grow in flattened clusters called cymes rather than single flowers. Each cyme contains hundreds of tiny white blossoms.
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Flowers have 5 cream-colored petals surrounding yellow centers.
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Arranged in an umbrella-shaped pattern rather than conical.
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Emerge on woody shrubs or small trees, not herbaceous plants.
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Leaves are oval, toothed, and grouped in sets of 5-9 leaflets.
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Bushes or trees can reach 10+ feet in height when mature.
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Flowers and leaves have a distinct sweet, floral scent.
Toxic Flowers Commonly Confused with Elderflower
While elderflowers themselves are not poisonous, some toxic plants resemble them. Always examine the entire plant rather than just the flowers. Consider the leaves, stems, bark, height, and habitat. Here are major toxic elderflower lookalikes:
Water Hemlock
Perhaps the most dangerous imposter is water hemlock (Cicuta maculata). This herbaceous plant has lacy leaves and white flowers in umbels like elderflower. However, water hemlock has smooth rather than toothed leaves. It also lacks a woody trunk and branches. The stem is hollow and spotted purple, not gray like elderberry.
Giant Hogweed
A close relative of cow parsnip, giant hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum) towers up to 14 feet tall. Its massive umbrella-shaped flowerheads can measure 2.5 feet across. The deeply lobed leaves may reach 5 feet in width. Contact with sap causes severe blistering rashes.
Cow Parsley
Reaching 3-4 feet tall, cow parsley (Anthriscus sylvestris) emerges in spring. Lacy leaves and white flowers resemble elderflower. However, cow parsley has thin, grooved stems rather than woody ones. It also lacks elderflower’s sweet scent.
Poison Hemlock
All parts of poison hemlock (Conium maculatum) are toxic. This weed thrives on roadsides and disturbed areas. White flowers sit in loose umbels on hairless green stems mottled with purple spots. Fern-like leaves give off an unpleasant odor.
Water Parsnip
Despite its name, water parsnip (Sium suave) is not the same plant as water hemlock. Still, this coarse perennial of wetlands bears similarity to elderflower. Water parsnip displays white flowers in compound umbels. Leaves are pinnately compound. Stems are hollow and hairless.
Cowbane
Both spotted cowbane (Cicuta maculata) and northern cowbane (C. douglasii) are extremely poisonous members of the carrot family. They thrive in wet areas. Each umbrella-shaped cluster contains many small white flowers. Leaves are alternate, doubly or triply compound.
Additional Toxic Lookalikes
A few other plants produce similar flat-topped clusters of flowers:
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Poison hemlock has fern-like leaves and purple-spotted stems.
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Wild carrot (Queen Anne’s lace) has hairy stems and leaves that smell like carrots.
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Yarrow displays flatter umbels and feathery leaves.
While not toxic, some common ornamental shrubs also look comparable:
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Hawthorn: Larger blossoms with brown anthers
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Pyracantha: Flowers not in flat cymes, viciously thorny
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Dogwood: Individual flowers, not clustered
Safely Identifying Elderflower
Correctly distinguishing elderflowers from dangerous lookalikes requires examining the entire plant. Consider the leaves, stems, bark, height, branching pattern, and habitat along with the flowers. Never rely solely on the blossoms. Also learn to recognize toxic imposters in your area through research and mentorship from experienced foragers.
Tips for Safe Foraging:
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Use reputable wildfood guides and foraging courses to build identification skills.
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Forage with a knowledgeable mentor the first few times.
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Avoid collecting along roadsides or railroad tracks where chemicals may have been sprayed.
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Photograph plants to verify ID at home before consuming any part.
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Don’t just eat something because it looks like a photo online; examine all parts of the living plant.
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If any doubt exists about a plant’s identity, do not eat it.
With proper elderflower identification, you can safely forage these tantalizing blossoms to make syrups, drinks, desserts, and more. Just take care to distinguish them from potentially toxic lookalikes using the entire plant, not just the flowers. Expert mentors, research, caution, and common sense will keep you foraging safely for years to come.
How to identify elder
Elderflowers come from the elder tree (Sambucus nigra) that generally grows as a shrub or small tree.
It’s abundant throughout the UK, in woods and along roadside hedgerows. In late May, there will be lots of tiny white flowers hanging down in sprays. Later in the summer, these flowers will turn into purple elderberries.
Credit: Alan Belton / WTML
A short-lived shrub or tree that looks unkempt at times. It grows in woods, hedgerows, scrub, on waste ground, along railroad embankments, and in graveyards.
Credit: Alan Belton/ WTML
Compound and pinnate (feather-shaped) with five or seven leaflets. Leaflets are arranged opposite to each other with one single leaflet at the tip. The edge of each leaflet is toothed and there may be small hairs on the underside. In winter, leaf buds are purplish and spiky-scaled.
Credit: Carole Sutton / WTML
Young twigs are green, light and brittle and have a creamy-white pithy tissue inside. As as they mature they turn light grey-brown. Stems are often dotted with light brown bumps or warts. As bark matures it becomes furrowed and corky.
Credit: Pete Holmes / WTML
Flat-topped clusters of tiny, creamy-white flowers appear in June. To many people the fragrance is sweet and summery and it attracts masses of insects.
How to use elderflowers
The flowers and berries are the only edible part of the plant. They are mildly toxic and have an unpleasant taste when raw. Cooking destroys the toxic chemicals.
Elderflowers are ready around late May to mid-June. It’s best to pick them when the buds are just starting to open, on a warm, dry, sunny day away from busy roads. Give them a shake to remove any insects and rinse briefly in cold water before using.
The fragrant flowers are most famous for making elderflower champagne and cordial – perfect summer drinks.
Drink elderflower cordial chilled, diluted with water or add to sparking or dry wine.
Credit: Anjo Kan / Alamy Stock Photo
Elderflower Adventures – Exploring Different Ways to Eat and Drink this Awesome Flower
FAQ
What flowers are similar to elderflower?
How to tell the difference between hemlock and elderflower?
Is there anything that looks like elderberry?
What flowers look like elderflower?
Many small white flowers are in bloom in Summer, and to the untrained eye, can appear to be very similar to elderflower. Some of the different trees, flowers and plants which can be mistaken for elderflower include: cow parsley, cowbane, pignut, hemlock, pyracantha, red osier dogwood, rowan and hawthorn.
What is the difference between elderflower and elderflower?
From a distance they may look like elderflower but close up there are some key differences. These plants are not elderflower. The flowers are larger, paler and more tightly packed than elderflowers. Note the brown anthers. Grows from the ground, white flowers, no visible pollen and there are no leaves near the flowers.
Can you tell if a plant is elderflower?
As long as you use all the identifying features of the plant, you’re unlikely to mistake them for elderflower. But because they also have sprays of tiny white blossoms, they sometimes cause confusion for novice foragers. Likewise with plants that have small purple berries.
What do elderflowers smell like?
Elderflowers!! The sweet umbels of creamy colored flowers that can reach 12″ across are so fragrant and have a unique smell, kind of like floral, creamy, and summery all in one package! All cultivars look very similar with their shrub-like plant structure, compound leaves, and big, beautiful clusters of white flowers.