In a message dated 12/15/2005 1:47:46 PM US Eastern Standard Time,
longdistshtr@shtc.net writes:
We used to bread and fry the elderberry "blow" (flowers)
Well that is a new one on me. What is a blow (flower)? As opposed to a
normal flower? Local term?
Jerry
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sorry Jerry, but we retained some of the Old English down here while the
trend at one time was to switch the official American language to German.
Ironically "blow" was akin to the Old High German verb,"bluoen" meaning "to
blossom". Why elder blow (elder blossom) hung on, is beyond my
comprehension. It could be because an elder, especially Sambucus nigra, may
be referred to as a bourtree (bower tree). The blossoms were claimed to
have medicinal properties and these attributes may have previously exceeded
the berries importance as a dye or food. Over time, elder became elderberry
to describe the plant.
Incidentally, the bark, leaves, shoots and roots are claimed to contain
cyanogenic glycosides which are poisonous and shouldn't be ingested.
So, to answer your question; "blow" means "blossom"/"flower"/"bloom".
Doc Lisenby Zone 7/8 (So. Car.)