| General Description | Known for its dramatic foliage, Sambucus nigra Black Lace® is a large upright shrub that has a striking lack foliage of deeply dissected, purple leaves from spring to autumn. |
| ID Characteristic | The delicate purple leaves of Sambucus nigra Black Lace® are finely cut, which creates an effect like that of Japanese maple. Its light-pink flowers appear in clusters throughout the spring and autumn. The glossy black berries of the plant also appear in the autumn. |
| Shape | Large upright dense shrub. |
| Landscape | An award-winning shrub, the Black Lace® is used in informal gardens as borders, hedges, and screens. It can also be an excellent choice as a single specimen plant or for group plantings. It can be best placed in informal backgrounds where it can naturalize, or in areas where it can be a focal point. |
| Propagation | Plant in a heated, coarse, well-drained compost with fine mist to keep the leaves moist; shelter from direct sunlight. After 14 days, roots usually start to show. After 28 days, the plant is rooted and ready to wean. After 40 days, it is completely weaned. Spring or summer are the ideal times to establish new specimens. |
| Cultivation | Black Lace® prefers moist humus soil, and medium to wet soils, which are well-drained in full sun or partly shade. It also likes a pH level ranging 6.5 to 7.0. |
| Pests | Sambucus nigra can suffer from a wide range of insect pests, like borers, spider mites and aphids. They can also be susceptible to fungal diseases such as canker, leaf spot, and powdery mildew. |
| Notable Specimens | Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis Missouri, United States of America. |
| Habitat | Black Lace® resulted from a breeding program conducted at Horticulture Research International, in England. In 2001 it was confirmed as worthy of release under the name ‘Eva’. |
| Bark/Stem Description | Green at first, the stems eventually turn purple. Shoots that are 1 to 2 years old are silver grey and are smooth, with the exception of large grey lenticels that are 2mm in diameter, 8 per square inch. The diameter of the solid white pith is 80cm in length and 8mm in diameter. Rough, grey-brown bark covers older branches. |
| Flower/Leaf Bud Description | The buds have a globose shape, 2mm in diameter, usually a dark purple and sprouts green. Has two short and two long scales that alternate around the bud. |
| Leaf Description | Usually seven leaflets, each of which is laciniate and has around five lobes, giving it a pinnate form. The dimensions of the leaf are 25cm in length and 20cm in width. Leaflet base and tip are both acute and the margins being serrulate. The leaf has a glossy, metallic surface. Young foliage is green with a peripheral purpling, mature foliage is dark purple on the upper surface and a grey green on the lower surface. |
| Flower Description | Flower has a rotate shape with 5 orbicular petals, 2mm in width, margin entire, petal base and apex are both rounded. Flower size is 20 cm in diameter and 3cm in depth. Upper surfaces of young petals are white, with flushed pink tips that fade to white with age. The underside of petals is paler at the base, fading at the centre. |
| Fruit Description | The fruit of the Black Lace® is very dark ruby purple on the surface, and a light green in the centre. It has a globose shape, and the fruit is 7mm in diameter. They appear from August to October and are ready to harvest mid-August to late September. |
| Colour Description | In the early spring new growth will begin. Creamy pink flowers will bloom, the leaves are purple and black, and the foliage is a greenish purple. In the summer, the colour of the Black Lace® becomes more dramatic, with the leaves becoming black and the bark becoming a dark wine colour. This is also followed by blackish red berries that will begin to show. In Autumn, the flowers and berries have fallen off, leaving dark wine-coloured bark and black-purple coloured leaves. In the winter, the leaves will fall of the shrub and the bark turns a green-purple colour. |
| Texture Description | Sambucus nigra has very fine weak branches; in the winter it is suggested to shake the snow off the shrub to avoid damage. |