More about Elderflowers

I was intrigued by the thought of elderflower soda, so I did some research on elderflowers and came up with a bunch of factoids. First, I will answer my own question- Elderflowers taste, not like elders, but slightly like anisette as best I can guess. St. Germaine liqueur is made out of elderflower. Though Sambuca, which is named after elder (the species name for elder is Sambucus) is not made out of elder. In Hungary they make an elderflower wine and apparently Europeans employ elderflowers and elderberries in many other applications such as tea, syrups, sodas (Fanta makes an elder flavored soda believe it or not). Who knew? Secondly, wiccan folklore has it that if you remove an eldertree from your land, a spirit called an "elder mother" will seek revenge upon you. Third, the woodear fungus made famous by Asian cuisine, prefers elder trees as its host. Fourth, biblical legend has it that Judas hanged himself from an eldertree so woodear fungus is also called judas ear fungus. Sounds delicious, right? So there you go! I also think I found a variety of elder growing on my own property, although it doesn't taste very good. Too bad! Now I have to do some more research to see if American Elder is good for anything...