Sambucus L.
Deciduous shrubs or small trees, sometimes herbaceous, often spreading by suckers. Stems with thick pith. Winter buds with several pairs of scales. Lvs imparipinnate, stipulate or exstipulate. Fls in terminal corymbs or panicles, regular, (3)-5-merous, small. Calyx lobes very small. Corolla rotate. Stamens as many as corolla lobes, rarely 1 very reduced; filaments short and usually < corolla. Ovary 3-5-celled. Style very short or 0; stigma 3-5-lobed. Fr. a berry-like drupe with 3-5, compressed pyrenes.
Key
20-40 spp., N. temperate regions, extending south through S.E. Asia to E. Australia. Naturalised spp. 2.
