Muskroot Family

Viburnaceae (vi-burn-AY-see-ee)

Iconic Features

• Usually opposite, toothed leaves
• Usually clusters of small, 5-petalled flowers
• Inferior ovary
• Fruit a drupe

Description (Jepson)

• Eudicotyledons (eudicots) – a major lineage of flowering plants including most plants traditionally described as dicots and generally characterized by
  • 2 seed leaves (dicotyledon)
  • Netted (reticulate) leaf venation
  • Flower parts in fours and fives
  • Pollen grains with 3 pores (tricolpate)
  • Vascular bundles in stem arranged in a ring
  • Taproot system
• Perennial herbs, shrubs, and trees
• Leaves
  • Generally opposite (2 leaves at each junction with stem)
  • Simple (not divided into leaflets) or compound (divided into leaflets)
  • Generally toothed
• Flowers
  • Inflorescence in many forms
    • Often a flat-topped, small-flowered cyme (branched stem with flowers opening from the top down)
  • Radially symmetric, usually bisexual, usually 5-petalled flowers
  • Ovary wholly or partly inferior (below the attachment of other flower parts)
• Fruit is a drupe (a fleshy fruit with usually 1 seed in a hard inner shell–a stone fruit)

Notes

• Approximately 200 species
  • Found especially in northern temperate regions
  • Includes elderberries (Sambucas species), viburnums (Viburnum species), and moschatel (Adoxa moschatellina)
• Scientific name from the included genus Viburnum, a Latin name referring to V. lantana
  • Synonymous with Adoxaceae
• Common name from one of the many names for moschatel (Adoxa moschatellina), referring to that plant’s musky scent
  • Also known as the Moschatel family
• Previously included in the Honeysuckle family (Caprifoliaceae)
• Represented by 1 species at Edgewood

Specific References

Grieve, M. 1931. Moschatel, Common. A Modern Herbal. Botanical.com: A Modern Herbal by Mrs. M. Grieve.

General References

Calflora Database. 2014. Berkeley, California.

Calscape. 2018. California Native Plant Society.

Charters, M.L. 2015. California Plant Names: Latin and Greek Meanings and Derivations.

Charters, M.L. 2017. Southern California Wildflowers: Guide to the Pronunciation of Specific, Generic and Family Names.

Corelli, T. 2004. Flowering Plants of Edgewood Natural Preserve (2nd. ed.). Monocot Press, Half Moon Bay, California.

Elpel, T.J. 2013. Botany in a Day: The Patterns Method of Plant Identification. HOPS Press, Pony, Montana.

Flora of North America. efloras.org.

Harris, J.G., and M.W. Harris. 2013. Plant Identification Terminology: An Illustrated Glossary. Spring Lake Publishing, Spring Lake, Utah.

Keator, G. 2009. California Plant Families. University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles, California.

Native American Ethnobotany DB.

Regents of the University of California. Jepson eFlora. Jepson Herbarium. University of California, Berkeley.

Browse Some Edgewood Plants in this Family