Caprifoliaceae

The Caprifoliaceae or honeysuckle family is a clade of dicotyledonous flowering plants consisting of about 860 species<ref name="mobot.org">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> in 33<ref name="Powo"/> to 42 genera, with a nearly cosmopolitan distribution. Centres of diversity are found in eastern North America and eastern Asia, while they are absent in tropical and southern Africa.

Description

The flowering plants in this clade are mostly shrubs and vines: rarely herbs. They include some ornamental garden plants grown in temperate regions. The leaves are mostly opposite with no stipules (appendages at the base of a leafstalk or petiole), and may be either evergreen or deciduous. The flowers are tubular funnel-shaped or bell-like, usually with five outward spreading lobes or points, and are often fragrant. They usually form a small calyx with small bracts. The fruit is in most cases a berry or a drupe. The genera Diervilla and Weigela have capsular fruit, while Heptacodium has an achene.

Taxonomy

Views of the family-level classification of the traditionally accepted Caprifoliaceae and other plants in the botanical order Dipsacales have been considerably revised in recent decades. Most botanists now accept the placement of two of the most familiar members of this group, the elderberries (Sambucus) and the viburnums (Viburnum), in the family Adoxaceae instead; these were formerly classified here. 33 genera are currently accepted.<ref name = Powo/>

Several other families of the more broadly treated Caprifoliaceae s.l. are separated by some but not all authors; these are treated as subfamilies in the listing of genera below,<ref name="mobot.org"/> along with estimated numbers of species.

File:EB1911 Caprifoliaceae - Flowering shoot of Lonicera Caprifolium.jpg

Flowering shoot of Lonicera caprifolium. 1, Fruit; 2, horizontal plan of flower.

Subfamily Diervilloideae

• Diervilla Template:Small – bush honeysuckle, 3 species
• Weigela Template:Small – 10 species

Subfamily Caprifolioideae s.s.

• Heptacodium Template:Small – seven-son flower, 1 species
• Leycesteria Template:Small – 7 species
• Lonicera Template:Small – honeysuckle, 158 species
• Symphoricarpos Template:Small – snowberry, 15 species
• Triosteum Template:Small – horse gentian, 6 species

Subfamily Dipsacoideae<ref name = Mayer>Mayer, V. and Ehrendorfer, F. (2013), The phylogenetic position of Pterocephalidium and the new African genus Pterothamnus within an improved classification of Dipsacaceae. Taxon, 62: 112-126. https://doi.org/10.1002/tax.621010</ref>

• • × Succisoknautia Template:Small – 1 species
  • Triplostegia Template:Small – 1 species
• Tribe Bassecoieae
  • Bassecoia Template:Small – 3 species
• Tribe Dipsaceae
  • Cephalaria Template:Small – 102 species
  • Dipsacus Template:Small – teasel, 21 species
• Tribe Knautieae
  • Knautia Template:Small – 55 species
• Tribe Pseudoscabioseae
  • Pseudoscabiosa Template:Small – 3 species
• Tribe Pterocephalidieae
  • Pterocephalidium Template:Small – 1 species
  • Pterothamnus Template:Small – 1 species
• Tribe Succiseae
  • Succisa Template:Small - 3 species
  • Succisella Template:Small – 5 species

Subfamily Scabiosoideae<ref name = Mayer/>

• Tribe Scabioseae
  • Pterocephalus Template:Small – 34 species
  • Scabiosa Template:Small – scabious or pincushion flower, 68 species
• Tribe Lomelosieae
  • Lomelosia Template:Small – 63 species
  • Pycnocomon Template:Small – 2 species

Subfamily Linnaeoideae

• Abelia Template:Small – 6 species
• Diabelia Template:Small – 4 species
• Dipelta Template:Small – 3 species
• Kolkwitzia Template:Small – beautybush, 1 species
• Linnaea Template:Small – twinflower, 1 species
• Vesalea Template:Small – 6 species

Subfamily Morinoideae

• Morina Template:Small – 14 species
• Zabelia Template:Small – 8 species

Subfamily Valerianoideae

• Nardostachys Template:Small – 1 species
• Patrinia Template:Small – 14 species
• Valeriana Template:Small – valerians, 426 species
• Valerianella Template:Small – cornsalads, 28 species

Uses

The plants belonging to this family are mainly hardy shrubs or vines of ornamental value, many of which are popular garden shrubs, notably species belonging to the genera Abelia, Lonicera, and Weigela. Valerianella locusta is cultivated for use in food.

A few, however, have become invasive weeds outside their native ranges (such as Lonicera japonica).

Other sources

• Flowering Plants of the World, 1987, Vernon H. Heywood, Andromeda Oxford Ltd., Template:ISBN
• Botanica, Gordon Cheers, Random House Australia, Template:ISBN

External links

• Caprifoliaceae in Topwalks
• Species account : Caprifoliaceae
• Comparison Table for the Cornidae