Adoxaceae
Family of plants
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Adoxaceae or Viburnaceae, commonly known as the moschatel family,[3] is a small family of flowering plants in the order Dipsacales, which includes three genera – Adoxa, Sambucus, and Viburnum[2] – and 150–200 species. They are characterised by opposite toothed leaves, small five- or, more rarely, four-petalled flowers in cymose inflorescences, and the fruit being a drupe. They are thus similar to many Cornaceae.
| Adoxaceae | |
|---|---|
| |
| Adoxa moschatellina | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Dipsacales |
| Family: | Adoxaceae E.Mey.[1] |
| Type genus | |
| Adoxa L. | |
| Genera[2] | |
In older classifications, this entire family was part of Caprifoliaceae, the honeysuckle family. Adoxa (moschatel) was the first plant to be moved to this new group. Much later, the genera Sambucus (elders) and Viburnum were added after careful morphological analysis and biochemical tests by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group.
Usage of the name Viburnaceae is gradually becoming more common. As of March 2021, the Angiosperm Phylogeny website and Plants of the World Online by Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew refer to this family as Viburnaceae Raf., nom. cons, as do sources from November 2025.[4][5][6][7]
Adoxa moschatellina is a small perennial herbaceous plant, flowering early in the spring and dying down to ground level in summer immediately after the berries are mature; the leaves are compound.
The elders are mostly shrubs, but two species are large herbaceous plants; all have compound leaves. The viburnums are all shrubs, with simple leaves.
Gallery
Viburnum davidii foliage and fruit
Sambucus racemosa flowers
Sambucus nigra flowers
Sambucus canadensis foliage and fruit
