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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Washington, D.C. » National Arboretum » Floral and Nursery Plants Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #326630
Title: Adoxaceae

Author
item Whittemore, Alan

Submitted to: Flora of Oregon
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/20/2016
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: This contribution will form a section of The Oregon Flora, a manual produced at Oregon State University to provide up-to-date information on the taxonomy, distribution, and ecological status of all plants that are wild or invasive in Oregon, together with a guide for identification, aimed at professional and sophisticated amateur users. The taxonomy, distribution, and ecological status of all species of the family Adoxaceae that grow outside of cultivation in Oregon is reevaluated, based primarily on a thorough reexamination of available herbarium specimens, and a guide for identification is supplied. Two genera (Sambucus and Viburnum) and four species are native in Oregon, and four other species have shown possible invasive tendencies. Many Viburnum species are cultivated as flowering ornamental shrubs throughout the United States, and both genera are important as wildlife food and for erosion control. This contribution provides up-to-date information on the biology of this family, along with identification aids. It will support accurate identification of plants used in horticulture and conservation plantings. It will be used by professional land managers, educators, conservationists, native plant growers, and sophisticated amateur botanists and horticulturalists, ensuring that work on land management, conservation, and horticulture will be based on complete, accurate, and up-to-date information about the basic biology and relationships of these organisms.

Technical Abstract: The family Adoxaceae is treated for The Oregon Flora, a detailed floristic manual produced at Oregon State University. Two genera and four species are native in Oregon, and four other species have shown possible invasive tendencies; full morphological descriptions and a brief summary of geographical and ecological distribution, economic use, and taxonomic notes are given for the native species, along with notes on current status for those that might prove invasive in the state. Many Viburnum species are cultivated as flowering ornamental shrubs throughout the United States, and both genera in the family (Sambucus and Viburnum) are important as wildlife food and for erosion control. This contribution will support accurate identification of useful plants by botanists in the Pacific Northwest.