Maleae
tribe of plants
The Maleae (incorrectly Pyreae) are the apple tribe in the rose family, Rosaceae. The group includes some plants bearing commercially important fruits, such as apples and pears, while others are cultivated as ornamentals. Older taxonomies separated some of this group as tribe Crataegeae, as the Cydonia group (a tentative placement), or some genera were placed in family Quillajaceae.
The tribe consists exclusively of shrubs and small trees. Most have pomes, a type of accessory fruit that does not occur in other Rosaceae. All except Vauquelinia (with 15 chromosomes) have a basal haploid chromosome count of 17, instead of 7, 8, or 9 as in the other Rosaceae.
There are approximately 28 genera that contain about 1100 species worldwide, with most species occurring in the temperate Northern Hemisphere.
Current classification
Core members of the group
A traditional circumscription of Maleae includes the following genera:
intergeneric hybrids:
× Amelasorbus
× Malosorbus
× Sorbaronia
× Sorbopyrus
and graft chimeras:
+ Pyrocydonia (Pirocydonia)
Tribe Crataegeae
A recent taxonomic treatment includes the following genera in Maleae that were earlier separated as tribe Crataegeae (or as intertribe hybrids):
Cotoneaster - cotoneaster
Crataegus - hawthorn
Mespilus - medlar
Pyracantha - firethorn
intergeneric (including intertribal) hybrids:
× Crataemespilus
× Crataegosorbus
× Sorbocotoneaster
and the graft hybrid:
+ Crataegomespilus
Former members of family Quillajaceae
The following genera were previously placed in tribe Quillajeae in Rosaceae, or in family Quillajaceae. Their fruit is dry capsules, not pomes.
Kageneckia
Vauquelinia
Lindleya
The Cydonia group
The Cydonia group within the Maloid Rosaceae was a tentative grouping of pome-fruited genera with many ovules (rather than just two) per carpel.
“Maleae” enters the record as tribe of plants. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Maleae, tribe and plants can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Maleae” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Maleae, tribe and plants provides the most credible route into that argument.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 31, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2119847. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1100.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Maleae”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Maleae primary sources, Maleae archive and Maleae research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Maleae”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Maleae” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.