On the basis of habitat, blooming and ripening time, growth form, and size, colour, seediness, and taste of the berries, they distinguish many varieties, each with its own particular advantages and disadvantages as a food. The serviceberry commonly grows 10 to 15 feet tall, but on good sites it can reach 25 feet. It is remarably hardy, being found in open woodland and in the driest of landscapes, as long as there is a rock fracture or slide into which it can sink its tenacious roots. This is a plant which could be of great value in rehabilitating the arid and semiarid landscapes of the Interior. It is considered the best of the six edible species found around the world.
Blue elderberry grows to thirty feet in height on good sites.
It sometimes takes the form of a tree, but usually grows as a many-stemmed shrub. The valleys of the eastern slopes of the Washington Cascades contain the region's densest stands. A good way to harvest elderberry clusters is to pull them down with long, hooked poles or with long-handled pole loppers such as those used in orchard pruning. The berries were usually mixed with other berries to make them palatable. The sap of this plant is poisonous.