'Albino' Elder plant?
Ok, there are one or two green fingered people on my f-list who know a bit about wild plants.
This morning I was out collecting elder-berries. There were two elder bushes together, one with the usual heavy bracts of purple berries, and one with heavy bracts of translucent green ones that looked like miniature gooseberries. On examination these were ripe and juicy, nothing like the hard unripe green elderberries on the sister tree.
The bark of the two bushes were the same, the leaves have the same form and structure, as do the fruiting heads. The only difference between the two were that the unusual one had leaves that were a shade or two darker, the fruit stalks were green instead of red, and the berries, obviously, were translucent green, instead of purple. To all intents and purposes it looks like elder, even the shape and number of seeds within the berries was the same.
Has any one heard of an elder that produces ripe green berries? Or a shrub that mimics elder that closely? I know unripe berries contain a cyanide compound, but would ripe berries contain the same if they were green instead of purple?
(the thought of a 'white' elderberry cordial is quite appealing).
I've brought some leaf and berry samples home which I will photograph once my camera is charged, and I'm going to use the water test to make sure they are definitely ripe (but the squashiness suggests they are).
Also, is there anywhere I could go (locally) to get the leaves and berries identified?
This morning I was out collecting elder-berries. There were two elder bushes together, one with the usual heavy bracts of purple berries, and one with heavy bracts of translucent green ones that looked like miniature gooseberries. On examination these were ripe and juicy, nothing like the hard unripe green elderberries on the sister tree.
The bark of the two bushes were the same, the leaves have the same form and structure, as do the fruiting heads. The only difference between the two were that the unusual one had leaves that were a shade or two darker, the fruit stalks were green instead of red, and the berries, obviously, were translucent green, instead of purple. To all intents and purposes it looks like elder, even the shape and number of seeds within the berries was the same.
Has any one heard of an elder that produces ripe green berries? Or a shrub that mimics elder that closely? I know unripe berries contain a cyanide compound, but would ripe berries contain the same if they were green instead of purple?
(the thought of a 'white' elderberry cordial is quite appealing).
I've brought some leaf and berry samples home which I will photograph once my camera is charged, and I'm going to use the water test to make sure they are definitely ripe (but the squashiness suggests they are).
Also, is there anywhere I could go (locally) to get the leaves and berries identified?