elder family

Viburnaceae or Adoxaceae, commonly known as the moschatel family, is a small family of flowering plants in the order Dipsacales, which includes three genera – Adoxa, Sambucus, and Viburnum – 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.

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.