Amygdaloideae

Amygdaloideae
Temporal range: Eocene - recent[1]
(clockwise from top-left) Kerria japonica, Spiraea sp., Exochorda racemosa, Prunus cerasus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Rosales
Family: Rosaceae
Subfamily: Amygdaloideae
Arn.
Tribes
Synonyms
  • Coleogynoideae Takhtajan 1997
  • Dichotomanthoideae Takhtajan 1997
  • Lyonothamnoideae Schulze-Menz 1964
  • Maloideae C.Weber
  • Pomoideae Juss. 1789
  • Prunoideae Horan.
  • Spiraeoideae Arn.

Amygdaloideae is a subfamily within the flowering plant family Rosaceae. It was formerly considered by some authors to be separate from Rosaceae,[2] and the family names Prunaceae and Amygdalaceae have been used. Reanalysis from 2007 has shown that the previous definition of subfamily Spiraeoideae was paraphyletic.[3] To solve this problem, a larger subfamily was defined that includes the former Amygdaloideae, Spiraeoideae, and Maloideae. This subfamily, however, is to be called Amygdaloideae rather than Spiraeoideae under the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants as updated in 2011.[4]

As traditionally defined, the Amygdaloideae includes such commercially important crops as plum, cherry, apricot, peach, and almond. The fruit of these plants are known as stone fruit (drupes), as each fruit contains a hard shell (the endocarp) called a stone or pit, which contains the single seed.

The expanded definition of the Amygdaloideae adds to these commercially important crops such as apples and pears that have pome fruit, and also important ornamental plants such as Spiraea and Aruncus that have hard dry fruits.

  1. ^ "Rosales". www.mobot.org. Retrieved 2023-06-16.
  2. ^ John Lindley (1830). Introduction to the natural system of botany: or, a systematic view of the organization, natural affinities, and geographic distribution of the whole vegetable kingdom; together with the uses of the most important species in medicine, the arts, and rural or domestic economy. London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green. pp. 84–85.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Potter was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ McNeill, J.; Barrie, F.R.; Buck, W.R.; Demoulin, V.; Greuter, W.; Hawksworth, D.L.; Herendeen, P.S.; Knapp, S.; Marhold, K.; Prado, J.; Reine, W.F.P.h.V.; Smith, G.F.; Wiersema, J.H.; Turland, N.J. (2012). International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (Melbourne Code) adopted by the Eighteenth International Botanical Congress Melbourne, Australia, July 2011. Vol. Regnum Vegetabile 154. A.R.G. Gantner Verlag KG. ISBN 978-3-87429-425-6. Article 19.5, ex. 5