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I thought this was an elderberry but looking at other photos, I'm not so sure. Some seem to have hairy stems and I don't see that on mine--at least not in the picture. Any thoughts?

There must be different varieties of elderberries. Some get ripe mid August others get ripe mid Sept. The elderberry I find along the roads where I live get ripe in Aug. Elderberries I find 85 miles east of here get ripe in Sept. I don't recall if plants look different. Your berries look like elderberries. Elevation 85 miles east of here is 1500 ft higher and weather is 5 to 10 degrees colder year round I wonder if that has something to do with when elderberries get ripe later in that location.

Thank you. I am going to assume they are elderberries until someone comes along and proves us wrong.

Marc, do you know what color the berries are when mature?

Black, blue-black, or dark purplish, and that definitely points to elderberry. Some other color, and, well, it still could be elderberry, but not the really common black elderberry you usually run across.

If I recall correctly, elderberry flowers are pretty distinctive. So if there are any on the plant you could compare to a web photo, that might confirm it for you as well.

I’m looking at them thinking they look like elderberries, too.

Now there are American native species and European native species (also available to buy in the USA), and hybrids that have been cultivated by the landscaping industry. The one pictured could be any of those or cross of those.