Fig. 7

Viburnum fruits have evolved syndromes of traits, multiple times. Blue-fruited species have high lipid content, low moisture, low pulp content, and a rounder endocarp. Red-fruited species have extremely high moisture content and pulp content, low lipids, and a flatter endocarp. Illustrated here are the main traits we examined in this analysis, classified as to whether they resemble the blue-fruited syndrome or the red-fruited syndrome. We used the mean value of each trait as the threshold, and determined whether blue-fruited species had “high” or “low” values for that trait. Black-fruited species (both synchronously and sequentially developing) exhibit a range of traits, including some species with intermediate moisture levels that differ from those found in red-fruited or blue-fruited species. Gray branches indicate regions of the phylogeny where the ancestral state is especially equivocal