July 27, 2011

Dwarf elder


A Rose chafer (Cetonia aurata) feeds on the flowers of a Dwarf elder (Sambucus ebulus). This beetle does not eat the nectar but the pollen and stamen and also other parts of the flower and even fruits. Before appearing as an adult it has lived for several years underground, in a dead trunk, or even at the bottom of a flower pot, as a fat white worm, feeding on rotten wood and compost (never on living plant parts). Despite its name the Rose chafer seems to be very fond of Dwarf elders and can be found there as long as it flowers in july and august.






















The Dwarf elder forms often big groups more than a meter high on fertile soil. It is a cousin of the Common elder but is not a shrub but a perennial plant. It has the typical Elder smell, but more pungent. Frankly, when in autumn the branches die it stinks!



Often flowers and fruits are present at the same time, as can be seen here.