Elder
Sambucus nigra
- Hollow stems
- Creamy summer flowers
- Ask before cutting
Of all the trees in northern European folklore, elder is the one hedged with the most caution. Danish and English tradition alike hold that an Elder Mother lives in the wood, and that cutting it without permission invites her attention. The formula for asking varies by county; the requirement to ask does not.
Elder was nonetheless cut constantly, because the hollow stems make excellent pipes and the flowers and berries are useful. The folklore reads less as prohibition than as etiquette, a way of marking that you are taking something from a thing that notices.
It grows fast, roots from cuttings, and turns up at the edges of farmyards and ruins, so the tree is very often older on a site than the buildings around it.