Maloideae
| Maloideae | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||
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| Genera | ||||||||||||
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Amelanchier - serviceberry, juneberry |
The Maloideae, or the apple subfamily, is a subfamily of the rose family Rosaceae characterised in its traditional circumscription by the possession of a pome ("false fruit") and a basal haploid chromosome count of 17. They are composed of shrubs and small trees. It includes a number of plants bearing commercially important fruits, especially apples and pears.
More recent proposals expand Maloideae to include a number of herbaceous genera that are more closely related to the traditional Maloideae than to other elements of Rosaceae. These are Kageneckia, Lindleya, and Vauquelinia, which have a haploid chromosome count of 17 or 15, but capsular fruits, and Gillenia, which has a haploid chromosome count of 9.