Definition

Noun: * A widely distributed family of mostly tropical plants: "Madder family" is the common name for the botanical family Rubiaceae. This family includes a diverse group of plants, primarily trees, shrubs, and herbs, many of which are found in tropical regions. It is notable for containing several economically and medicinally important species.

Usage and Examples

• The madder family is one of the largest families of flowering plants.
• Botanists study the madder family to understand the evolution of tropical flora.
• Many plants in the madder family have opposite leaves and interpetiolar stipules.

Advanced Usage

• In botanical taxonomy: The term is used informally; the formal scientific name is . When writing scientifically, the Latin name is preferred.
  • The genus Coffea belongs to the Rubiaceae, or madder family.

Variants and Related Words

• Rubiaceae (n): The formal, scientific Latin name for the madder family.
• Madder (n): A common name for , a plant in this family historically used to produce a red dye. This plant gives the family its common name.

Different Meanings / Contexts

This term has a single, specific meaning in botany. It does not have other common definitions.

Synonyms

• Rubiaceae (This is not a true synonym but the formal equivalent. In precise contexts, they are interchangeable, with being the technical term.)

Key Member Plants

• Coffee ( species): The source of coffee beans.
• Cinchona: The source of quinine, used to treat malaria.
• Gardenia: A genus of fragrant flowering plants often cultivated ornamentally.
• Madder ( species): Plants used historically as a source of red dye.
• Bedstraws ( species): Herbaceous plants, some with clinging stems.
• Partridgeberry (): A creeping evergreen plant.

Noun

1. widely distributed family of mostly tropical trees and shrubs and herbs; includes coffee and chinchona and gardenia and madder and bedstraws and partridgeberry