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Glite Dictionary
Rubiaceae

Rubiaceae

9.9
A family of plants that includes coffee and gardenia
  • noun
  • /ˌruːbiˈeɪʃiˌiː/
  • Specialized
translation icon : Rubiáceas
  • The Rubiaceae family includes various species that produce excellent timber and ornamental plants.

Examples

  • Coffee is from plants in the Rubiaceae family, and if you didn't have any of those around, the caffeine could be obtained from the toasted leaves of the Yaupon Holly (Southeastern US).

    Blog text (34)

  • Coffee is one of the most popular drinks made from plants in the Rubiaceae family.

  • Many Paliyans dwell in zone II forest, where they find the wild yams (Dioscorea) and the wood with which to dig them (Rubiaceae) in abundance.

    Academic text (1993)

  • Gardenias, known for their fragrant flowers, belong to the Rubiaceae family.

Synonyms

madder family
vsRubiaceae
  • Specialized
8.4

A group of mostly tropical plants like coffee and gardenia

is the scientific name used for the same plant family

Surface Forms

Rubiaceae singular
Rubiaceas plural
Rubiaceae plural

Morphology

Rubiaceae = Rubia (opaque) = rubia + aceae

The family-name suffix '-aceae' is a specialized Latin taxonomic formation unfamiliar to an average B1 learner, so the composition is not transparently meaningful.

Etymology

Rubiaceae comes from the Latin plant name Rubia, which means 'red' because the madder plant made a red dye, and the ending -aceae marks a plant 'family'. A helpful memory is that the same root appears in the word 'ruby', so Rubiaceae can be thought of as the 'madder' or 'red' family of plants, which today includes coffee and gardenia.