They don't look like typical wild elder plants to me. The color of the flowers is wrong, as wild all elder flowers I've seen were off-white. And while the pictures aren't quite close enough, the leaves also don't look as I'd expect. If you provide a closer picture of the leaves it might help.

Sure looks like red elderberry to me! I see no flowers at all in the photos........just berries in various stages of development and consumption (birds or other wildlife, I'd assume).

Here are some more taken later.

They aren't much besides seeds at this point. Not ripe?

Not that it matters, since apparently red elderberry is poisonous. :( Well poo.

LOL!! Floral, you get me every time! I didn't like the leaves at all and to be honest, red elderberry is not all that common in my area - blue is the usual species. However when I googled images, there seemed to be a decent resemblance.

Glad you came along to set things straight! And yes, the spec's definitely need some upgrading.......more than just a good polish!

My goodness, how embarrassing. I feel like an idiot! I never knew this was sumac, I always believed that the type of sumac with the upright, torch - like tips (the type in the attached pic) was the only kind. Good thing I never pick anything without checking the ID.

I'm on the fence. The leaves and seeds actually don't look exactly like smooth sumac. Somewhat difficult to tell from your photo. Could you post a photo of the twigs close up, particularly where they are attached to the trunks?

Here's the description of smooth sumac from the Missouri Botanical Garden's Plant Database.

Rhus glabra, commonly called smooth sumac, is a Missouri
native, deciduous shrub which occurs on prairies, fields, abandoned
farmland, clearings and along roads and railroads throughout the State. A
large, open, irregular, spreading shrub which typically grows 8-15'
tall and spreads by root suckers to form thickets or large colonies in
the wild. Very similar to staghorn sumac (R. typhina), except
the young stems of staghorn are densely pubescent whereas those of this
species are smooth, hence the common name. Large, compound pinnate,
shiny, dark green leaves (each with 9-27 leaflets) grow to 18" long with
a fern-like appearance and turn attractive shades of bright orange to
red in autumn. Tiny, yellowish-green flowers bloom in terminal panicles
(5-10" long) in late spring to early summer, with separate male and
female flowers appearing on separate plants (dioecious). Female plants
produce showy, erect, pyramidal fruiting clusters (to 8" long). Each
cluster contains numerous hairy, berry-like drupes which ripen red in
autumn, gradually turning maroon-brown as they persist through most of
the winter. Fruit is attractive to wildlife.

I am not familiar with red elderberry, but from a few photos I see online, it could be. Need more context to be sure. Where are they growing? The two plants have very different habitats and twigs. Here's the description of the red elderberry.

Sambucus racemosa,
commonly known as red elder or red elderberry, is a deciduous suckering
shrub which typically grows to 8-12’ tall with a somewhat sprawling
habit. It features (1) opposite, pinnate-compound, green leaves (6-9”
long) which have 5-7 leaflets (each to 4” long), (2) dome-shaped
clusters (panicled cymes) of numerous, late spring to early summer,
tiny, fragrant, white flowers and (3) dark red (black in the case of the
Rocky Mountain elderberry known as S racemosa var. melanocarpa),
summer-to-fall elderberry fruits in upright clusters. This shrub is
native to Europe, northern Asia and parts of Alaska, across Canada and
the northern U.S. south to California and New Mexico but mostly south
in the central and eastern states to South Dakota, Missouri, and Georgia
where it is typically found growing in moist woodlands, thickets,
stream banks, fields, fence rows and roadsides.

Fruits are sour and usually not consumed raw by humans, but may
be cooked for use in the preparation of wine, jelly and pies. Fruits
are attractive to wildlife.

Historically, Sambucus racemosa (native to Europe and Asia) was commonly known as European red elder and the very similar Sambucus pubens also known as S. racemosa var. pubens
(native to North America) was known as American red elder. Many
authorities have now grouped both of these red elders together under the
name of Sambucus racemosa.

Problems

No serious insect or disease problems. Some
susceptibility to canker, powdery mildew, leaf spot, borers, spider
mites and aphids. Branches are susceptible to damage from high winds or
from heavy snow/ice in winter. Plants will spread by root suckers.

Pinkmountain, I don't quite understand what you're on the fence about. Lilion's original shrub is Winged Sumac, Rhus copallina. There is no chance in a million years of it being Elderberry and Smooth Sumac wasn't suggested. (It isn't that either. Check out the winged petioles ). The second plant is just a Google image of Rhus typhina, Stagshorn Sumac, which Lilion showed as an example.

I was dissatisfied of it being smooth or staghorn sumac, Rhus glabra, or Rhus typhina. I have never seen winged sumac so learn something new every day. I'll add Rhus copallina to my plant list now. Cool!

Oh, and P.S. I do need glasses because I didn't originally notice the wings. I have been struggling to find the right glasses for seeing details on the computer screen.