pronounced: uh-doks-AY-see-eye
The family name comes from the Greek α- (a-), not and δοξα (doxa), glory – without glory or splendour. The family has recently been expanded, now containing plants, including elderberry, that were formerly placed in Caprifoliaceae. Members of Adoxiaceae are woody plants with opposite dentate leaves. The inflorescences are terminal, paniculate or umbel-like cymes. The flowers are flat and disk-like, radially symmetrical, bisexual, the calyx small and inconspicuous, the stamens adnate to the corolla tube. The fruits have a distinct pyrene.