Black Elderberry (Sambucus niger), fam. Adoxaceae or Sambucaceae.
Umbellate inflorescens, with fresh lemon aroma, unfold in the very end of spring or early summer, gradually. Though black elderberry can bear even drier climate (for example, that of the Southern Ukraine), in the forest around Kyiv it concentrates in the lowlands, around the water reservoirs. So, it is not easy to enjoy the beauty of its blooming, because of abundant mosquitoes living in the same places.
In September, the small black edible fruits ripen; but their picking is not very efficient. The elderberries are rich with ascorbic acid, resins, glucose and fructose, carotene, sambucine, amino acids, colorants, free acids and tyrosine. They are used as medicine, often accompanied by the flowers. In folk medicine, the concoction from the flowers and fruits of black elderberry is used as an antipyretic, diaphoretic, diuretic, anthelmintic and emetic, and the flower infusion - against the respiratory diseases.