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The Forest Service National Center for Reforestation, Nurseries, and Genetic Resources (RNGR) is a leading source of technical information for nurseries and land managers regarding production and planting of trees and other native plants for reforestation, restoration, and conservation.

 
NPN Protocol Details Image

Sambucus (racemosa)

Tara Luna
USDI NPS - Glacier National Park
West Glacier, Montana 59936
(406) 888-7835
http://plant-materials.nrcs.usda.gov/azpmc
Family Scientific Name: Caprifoliaceae
Family Common Name: Honeysuckle family
Scientific Name: Sambucus racemosa L. melanocarpa (Gray) McMinn.
Common Synonym: Sambucus melanocarpa (Gray) McMinn.
Common Name: Black elderberry
Species Code: SAMRAC
Ecotype: Subalpine forest, Avalanche Lake,1100m elev., Glacier National Park, Flathead Co., MT.
General Distribution: S. racemosa is found from B.C. east throughout Canada and the northeastern U.S., south from B.C. to California and through the Rocky Mountains to New Mexico.
Propagation Goal: plants
Propagation Method: vegetative
ProductType: Container (plug)
Stock Type: 3 L containers
Time To Grow: 16 Months
Target Specifications: Height: 25 cm<br> Caliper: 1.0 cm<br> Root System: firm plug in 3L (1 gallon) containers.
Propagule Collection: Vegetative Propagation Method: Pre-Rooting
Type of Cutting: Semi-softwood stem cutting.
Semi-softwood tip cuttings are collected in May when leaf buds are fully swollen but before the leaf tissue has expanded.
Cuttings are 15 to 20 cm long and 1 cm in caliper.
Propagule Processing: Cuttings are kept moist and under refrigeration prior to treatment.
Pre-Planting Treatments: Cuttings are treated with Domain fungicide bath for two minutes. Cuttings are recut at the base and treated with 2000 ppm IBA rooting hormone. Cuttings are stuck in mistbed with bottom heat at 21 C for 8 weeks.
Rooting %: 66% to 85%
Cuttings are successful if taken at the correct physiological stage. Woody stem tip cuttings collected when buds were fully swollen but not expanded resulted in the highest rooting percentages.
Growing Area Preparation/
Annual Practices for Perennial Crops:		 The outdoor mistbed has automatic intermittent mist that is applied at 6 second intervals every 6 minutes. Too frequent misting will result in leaf and stem rot. Bottom heat is maintained at 21C with heating cablesburied 12 cm beneath rooting medium.
Rooting medium is 50% perlite and 50% sand. Mistbed is covered with shadecloth during rooting.
Establishment Phase: Cuttings root in 8 weeks and are lifted and transplanted after an adequate root mass has been formed.
Length of Establishment Phase: 8 weeks
Active Growth Phase: Cuttings are transplanted into 3L (1 gallon) containers using 70% 6:1:1 milled sphagnum peat, perlite, and vermiculite and 30% sand with Osmocote controlled release fertilizer (13N:13P2O5:13K2O; 8 to 9 month release rate at 21C) and Micromax fertilizer (12%S, 0.1%B, 0.5%Cu, 12%Fe, 2.5%Mn, 0.05%Mo, 1%Zn) at the rate of 5 grams of Osmocote and 2 grams of Micromax per 3 L container.
Length of Active Growth Phase: 16 weeks
Hardening Phase: Plants are fertilized with 10-20-20 liquid NPK at 200 ppm during August and September. Pots are leached with clear water before overwintering.
Length of Hardening Phase: 4 weeks
Harvesting, Storage and Shipping: Total Time to Harvest: 16 months in 1 gallon containers.

Harvest Date: September
Storage Conditions: Overwinter in outdoor nursery under insulating foam and snow.
Length of Storage: 5 months
Other Comments: 5 gallon nursery stock can be produced in 2 to 3 years.
References: Flora of the Pacific Northwest, Hitchcock and Cronquist, University of Washington Press, 7th printing, 1990.
Seeds of the Woody Plants in North America, Young and Young, Dioscorides Press, 1992.
Seeds of the Woody Plants in the United States, Agriculture Handbook No. 450, U.S.F.S., Washington D.C., 1974.
Seed Germination Theory and Practice, 2nd Edition, N. Deno, published June 1993.
Glacier Park Native Plant Nursery Propagation Records, unpublished.
Seeds: Ecology, Biogeography and Evolution of Dormancy and Germination, Baskin and Baskin, Academic Press, 1998.

Citation:

Lapp, Joyce; Luna, Tara; Evans, Jeff; Wick, Dale. 2008. Propagation protocol for production of Container (plug) Sambucus racemosa L. plants 3 L containers; USDI NPS - Glacier National Park West Glacier, Montana. In: Native Plant Network. URL: https://NativePlantNetwork.org (accessed 2024/07/01). US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, National Center for Reforestation, Nurseries, and Genetic Resources.