The word "sambuk" has several meanings. According to Russian dictionaries, it designates the type of an Arab sea vessel; boarding bridge view; confectionery product based on fruit puree. Sometimes this name is used as a synonym for "sambuca" - Italian anise liqueur. However, the most common name for "sambuca" is the elder (Latin Sambucus), a woody perennial plant.
There are two main hypotheses about the origin of the generic name of the elder (Sambucus). Most linguists associate it with sambuz, an ancient Greek musical instrument made from the shoots of this deciduous shrub. According to another version, sambuc could get its name from the designation of red paint in ancient Greek - sambyx.
In the common people there were many definitions of this plant, such as "tubular tree", "girlish sambuk", "buchkan", "squeak" and even "tree of fate" and "old lady". One of the names of elderberry is "witch tree". In ancient times, many mystical properties were attributed to a shrub with black berries.
Sambuk was associated with misfortune - it was believed that sorceresses moved on it. Popular beliefs prescribed not to burn elderwood in the house, so as not to bring trouble. On the other hand, the elderberry symbolized fertility and love. The ancient Slavs believed that the sambuca bush near the house would protect the family from evil spirits (“In the garden it will protect both the garden and the house; under the bed - sleep”).
The property of elderberry branches is known - to scare away mice, which were considered magical animals (intermediaries between the world of the dead and the living). And today, many owners put sambuca branches in their country houses and pantries to get rid of rodents. The smell of this plant is also not tolerated by cockroaches, flies and some garden pests.
If only folk legends are associated with the magical properties of elderberry, then many of the nutritional and healing properties of this plant have been proven by modern science. Black elderberry (Sambucus nigra) is recommended as a medicine, while red elder (Sambucus racemosa) is considered a poisonous plant.
How to distinguish sambuca varieties? An elder is a shrub or small tree that can grow from 3 to 7-10 meters in height. The trunk and old wood are distinguished by cracked light ash bark, young shoots are covered with brown lenticels. The core of the shrub is loose, the leaves have a complex serrate shape.
In June, the elderberry blooms small yellowish inflorescences that spread a pungent odor. In Sambucus nigra (black elderberry), the fruits are globular drupes of black-purple color, on long stalks. They are full of blood-black juice. Sambucus racemosa (red elderberry) is distinguished by its small, shiny red berries.
Elderberries are juicy and sweet and sour in taste. They contain essential oils, carotene, tannins, vitamin C and many other beneficial nutrients. Fruits are eaten most often in processed form. They can be dried, boiled berry jam, marmalade and jelly. In winemaking, black elderberry juice and flowers are used as a natural dye and flavor. In principle, everything is valuable in Sambucus nigra - flowers give a nutmeg smell to alcoholic beverages; buds and bark contain tannins and essential oil; young shoots are even peeled from the bark and eaten boiled or in marinade. Fragrant tea is prepared from elderberry blossom, the roots are used for medicinal decoctions and tinctures.
Sambuc is primarily a medicinal plant, so you cannot eat it in large quantities and haphazardly. Dry berries, flower buds and flowers are most often used as medicinal raw materials in modern medicine. Raw materials are dried in the shade in the fresh air or in special dryers at a temperature of 30 to 35 degrees, then crushed. Applied in the form of tinctures, mixing with water 1:10 or tea (1 tablespoon of dry raw materials per 200 g of boiling water).
Your doctor may prescribe elderberry for you as a diuretic, diaphoretic, or anti-inflammatory. for rinsing with laryngitis and tonsillitis. In addition, the healing properties of sambuca are used for diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, rheumatism, gout, hemorrhoids, diabetes mellitus and many other diseases.
Elderberry can be called a magic plant even today - for this it is not at all necessary to believe in white and black magic.
