The Maloideae C.Weber was the apple subfamily, a grouping used by some taxonomists within the rose family, Rosaceae. Recent molecular phylogenetic evidence has shown that the traditional Spiraeoideae and

Amygdaloideae Amygdaloideae is a subfamily within the flowering plant family Rosaceae. It was formerly considered by some authors to be separate from Rosaceae, and the family names Prunaceae and Amygdalaceae have been used. Reanalysis from 2007 has shown that ...

form part of the same clade as the traditional Maloideae, and the correct name for this group is

. Earlier circumscriptions of Maloideae are more-or-less equivalent to subtribe Malinae or to tribe Maleae. The group includes a number of plants bearing commercially important

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...

s, such as

apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, ' ...

s and

pear Pears are fruits produced and consumed around the world, growing on a tree and harvested in the Northern Hemisphere in late summer into October. The pear tree and shrub are a species of genus ''Pyrus'' , in the family Rosaceae, bearing the po ...

s, while others are cultivated as ornamentals. In its traditional

circumscription Circumscription may refer to: *Circumscribed circle * Circumscription (logic) *Circumscription (taxonomy) *Circumscription theory, a theory about the origins of the political state in the history of human evolution proposed by the American anthrop ...

G. K. Schulze-Menz 1964. ''Reihe Rosales''. in ''A. Engler's Syllabus der Pflanzenfamilien mit besonderer Berücksichtigung der Nutzpflanzen nebst einer Übersicht über die Florenreiche und Florengebiete der Erde'', Gebrüder Borntraeger, Berlin this subfamily consisted exclusively of shrubs and small

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

s characterised by a pome, a type of

accessory fruit An accessory fruit is a fruit in which some of the flesh is derived not from the floral ovary but from some adjacent tissue exterior to the carpel.Esau, K. 1977. ''Anatomy of seed plants''. John Wiley and Sons, New York. Accessory fruits are u ...

that does not occur in other Rosaceae, and by a basal haploid

chromosome A chromosome is a long DNA molecule with part or all of the genetic material of an organism. In most chromosomes the very long thin DNA fibers are coated with packaging proteins; in eukaryotic cells the most important of these proteins are ...

count of 17 (instead of 7, 8, or 9 as in the other Rosaceae), involving approximately 28 genera with approximately 1100 species worldwide, with most species occurring in the temperate Northern Hemisphere.

Taxonomy

The subfamily was given the name Pomoideae

Juss. Antoine Laurent de Jussieu (; 12 April 1748 – 17 September 1836) was a French botanist, notable as the first to publish a natural classification of flowering plants; much of his system remains in use today. His classification was based on an ...

in 1789, but this name is no longer accepted under the

nomenclature codes Nomenclature codes or codes of nomenclature are the various rulebooks that govern biological taxonomic nomenclature, each in their own broad field of organisms. To an end-user who only deals with names of species, with some awareness that specie ...

because it is not based on a genus name. It has also been separated into its own family the Malaceae Small (formerly Pomaceae

Lindl. John Lindley FRS (5 February 1799 – 1 November 1865) was an English botanist, gardener and orchidologist. Early years Born in Catton, near Norwich, England, John Lindley was one of four children of George and Mary Lindley. George Lindley ...

). An earlier intermediate classification expanded Maloideae to include four genera with dry non-pome fruit. These are '' Kageneckia'', '' Lindleya'', and '' Vauquelinia'', which have a haploid chromosome count of 15 or 17, and '' Gillenia'', which is herbaceous and has a haploid chromosome count of 9. A traditional circumscription of Maloideae includes the following genera: * '' Amelanchier'' – serviceberry, juneberry * ''Aria'' (see ''

Sorbus ''Sorbus'' is a genus of over 100 species of trees and shrubs in the rose family, Rosaceae. Species of ''Sorbus'' (''s.l.'') are commonly known as whitebeam, rowan ( mountain-ash) and service tree. The exact number of species is disputed depe ...

'') * ''

Aronia ''Aronia'' is a genus of deciduous shrubs, the chokeberries, in the family Rosaceae native to eastern North America and most commonly found in wet woods and swamps. The genus Aronia is considered to have 3 species. The most common and wi ...

'' – chokeberry * '' Chaenomeles'' – Japanese quince * '' Chamaemeles'' * ''Chamaemespilus'' (see ''

Sorbus chamaemespilus ''Sorbus chamaemespilus'', the false medlar or dwarf whitebeam, is a species of ''Sorbus'' native to the mountains of central and southern Europe, from the Pyrenees east through the Alps to the Carpathians and the Balkans, growing at altitudes of ...

'') * ''Cormus'' (see ''

'') * ''

Cotoneaster ''Cotoneaster'' is a genus of flowering plants in the rose family, Rosaceae, native to the Palaearctic region (temperate Asia, Europe, north Africa), with a strong concentration of diversity in the genus in the mountains of southwestern China an ...

'' – cotoneaster * '' Crataegus'' – hawthorn * '' Cydonia'' – quince * '' Dichotomanthes'' * '' Docynia'' * '' Docyniopsis'' * ''

Eriobotrya ''Eriobotrya'' is a genus of flowering plants, mostly large evergreen shrubs and small trees in the family Rosaceae, native to woodland in the Himalayas and East Asia. The loquat, ''E. japonica'', is grown for its edible fruit. ''Eriobotrya'' s ...

'' –

loquat The loquat (''Eriobotrya japonica'') is a large evergreen shrub or tree, grown commercially for its orange fruit and for its leaves, which are used to make herbal tea. It is also cultivated as an ornamental plant. The loquat is in the family R ...

* ''

Eriolobus ''Eriolobus'' is a genus of plants in the family Rosaceae Rosaceae (), the rose family, is a medium-sized family of flowering plants that includes 4,828 known species in 91 genera. The name is derived from the type genus ''Rosa''. Among ...

'' * '' Hesperomeles'' * '' Heteromeles'' – toyon * ''

Malacomeles ''Malacomeles'', or false serviceberry, is a genus of flowering plants in the Rosaceae. It is most closely related to '' Amelanchier'', '' Peraphyllum'', '' Crataegus'', and ''Mespilus ''Mespilus'', commonly called medlar, is a monotypic g ...

'' * ''

Malus ''Malus'' ( or ) is a genus of about 30–55 species of small deciduous trees or shrubs in the family Rosaceae, including the domesticated orchard apple, crab apples, wild apples, and rainberries. The genus is native to the temperate zone ...

'' –

, crabapple * ''

Mespilus ''Mespilus'', commonly called medlar, is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the family Rosaceae containing the single species ''Mespilus germanica'' of southwest Asia. It is also found in some countries in the Balkans, especially in Alb ...

'' –

medlar ''Mespilus germanica'', known as the medlar or common medlar, is a large shrub or small tree in the rose family Rosaceae. The fruit of this tree, also called medlar, has been cultivated since Roman times, is usually available in winter and ea ...

* '' Osteomeles'' * '' Peraphyllum'' * '' Photinia'' * ''

Pseudocydonia ''Pseudocydonia sinensis'' or Chinese quince () is a deciduous or semi-evergreen tree in the family Rosaceae, native to southern and eastern China. It is the sole species in the genus ''Pseudocydonia''. Its hard, astringent fruit is used in tra ...

'' – Chinese quince * ''

Pyracantha ''Pyracantha'' (from Greek "fire" and "thorn", hence firethorn) is a genus of large, thorny evergreen shrubs in the family Rosaceae, with common names firethorn or pyracantha. They are native to an area extending from Southwest Europe east to ...

'' – firethorn * '' Pyrus'' – pear * ''

Rhaphiolepis ''Rhaphiolepis'' ( or ;The first pronunciation is that expected for Anglo-Latin; the second is common in nurseries. ''Sunset Western Garden Book,'' 1995:606–607. However, William T. Stearn in his book ''Botanical Latin'' says "Botanical Latin ...

'' – hawthorn * ''

'' – rowan,

whitebeam The whitebeams are members of the family Rosaceae, comprising subgenus ''Aria'' (or, according to some authorities, its own genus) of genus ''Sorbus'', and hybrids involving species of this subgenus and members of subgenera ''Sorbus'', ''Torminar ...

service tree Service tree can refer to: * Species of ''Sorbus'', particularly: ** '' Sorbus domestica'' ** '' Sorbus latifolia'', service tree of Fontainebleau ** ''Sorbus torminalis'', wild service tree ** '' Sorbus pseudofennica'', Arran service tree See als ...

* ''

Stranvaesia ''Stranvaesia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rosaceae. Its morphology is so similar to ''Photinia'' that it has sometimes been included within that genus, but recent molecular A molecule is a group of two or more atoms he ...

'' = ''Photinia'' pro parte * ''Torminalis'' (see ''

Sorbus torminalis ''Sorbus torminalis'', with common names wild service tree, chequers, and checker tree, is a species of tree in the mountain ash or rowan genus (''Sorbus'') of the rose family (Rosaceae), that is native to Europe, parts of northern Africa and we ...

'') Intergeneric hybrids: Stace, C. A. 1975. ''Hybridization and the flora of the British Isles''. Academic Press, London. * '' × Amelasorbus'' * '' × Crataegosorbus'' * ''

× Crataemespilus × ''Crataemespilus'' (or ''Cratae-mespilus'') is the generic name applied to hybrids between the genera '' Crataegus'' and ''Mespilus ''Mespilus'', commonly called medlar, is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the family Rosaceae c ...

'' * '' × Malosorbus'' * '' × Sorbocotoneaster'' * '' × Sorbopyrus'' Graft hybrids: * '' + Crataegomespilus'' * '' + Pyrocydonia'' (''Pirocydonia'')

Notes

References

* Joseph R. Rohrer, Kenneth R. Robinson, James B. Phipps – ''Floral Morphology of Maloideae (Rosaceae) and its systematic Relevance''; American Journal of Botany, 81 (5), P. 574–581; 1994 {{Authority control Amygdaloideae Rosid subfamilies Historically recognized angiosperm taxa