The 'Maloideae' ('apple' subfamily) is a subfamily of the rose family
Rosaceae characterised in its traditional description by the possession of a
pome, a type of
accessory fruit, and by a basal haploid
chromosome count of 17. These plants are
shrubs and small
trees. The group includes a number of plants bearing commercially important
fruits, like
apples and
pears.
More recent taxonomic proposals expand Maloideae to include a number of
herbaceous genera that are more closely related to the traditional Maloideae than to other species of Rosaceae. These are the genera ''
Kageneckia'', ''
Lindleya'', and ''
Vauquelinia'', which have a haploid chromosome count of 15 or 17 but bear fruits that are
capsules, and the genus, ''
Gillenia'', which has a haploid chromosome count of 9.