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

See General References

Specific References

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

Browse Some Edgewood Plants in this Family