madder family

American  

noun

1. the large plant family Rubiaceae, characterized by herbaceous plants, trees, and shrubs having simple, opposite, or whorled leaves, usually four- or five-lobed flowers, and fruit in the form of a berry, capsule, or nut, and including the gardenia, madder, partridgeberry, and shrubs and trees that are the source of coffee, ipecac, and quinine.

---

Example Sentences

Quin′sy-berr′y, the common black-currant; Quin′sy-wort, a small trailing British herb of the madder family.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 3 of 4: N-R) by Various

Richardsonia, rich-�rd-sō′ni-a, n. a genus of gamopetalous plants, belonging to the madder family, native to the warmer parts of America.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 3 of 4: N-R) by Various