
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)
- Inflorescence in many forms
- 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.
Browse Some Edgewood Plants in this Family
