Many popular garden plants - including many types of stone fruit and pome fruit - are closely related to the “queen of flowers”, the rose. They all belong to the large group of rose plants, which can be clearly seen in the structure of the flowers.
Which species belong to the rose family?
The most well-known species of the rose family include cherry, apricot, plum, peach, apple, pear, rose, feather spar, goat's beard, meadowsweet, agrimony, meadow button, lady's mantle, strawberry, raspberry and blackberry. They occur in various growth forms such as herbaceous plants, shrubs and trees.
There are around 3000 different species worldwide
Rosaceae are native all over the world, with a focus on the northern hemisphere. Most of the estimated 3,000 species, many of which are immensely important for both ornamental and kitchen gardening, originally come from Asia, Europe or North America. In particular, stone fruit and pome fruit species such as cherries, apricots, peaches, plums, apples and pears, but also some ornamental plants (especially the eponymous rose) have spread across the entire globe over thousands of years through human intervention. Rose plants look anything but uniform; they can be herbaceous plants, shrubs or even trees. They are only similar in the structure of their flowers, and in some plants the base of the flowers is used to form the fruit (e.g. B. used for almost all types of fruit).
List of the most famous species and varieties
In the table we have put together an overview of the four subfamilies with the associated tribes, genera and species. Since the rose family is so extensive, we limit ourselves to a selection of the horticulturally relevant species.
| Subfamily | Tribus | Genus | Species (selection) | Growth forms |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prunoideae | Amygdaleae (stone fruit family) | Prunus | Apricot, cherry, plum, cherry laurel, almond, peach | Trees or bushes |
| Spiraeoideae | Sorbarieae | Feathered Sparrows (Sorbaria) | Siberian plumed spar (Sorbaria sorbifolia) | Trees or bushes |
| Spiraeeae | Goat's beard (Aruncus), spiraea (Spiraea) | Gamander spirea | Trees or bushes | |
| Rosoideae | – | Meadowsweet (Filipendula) | Meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria) | mostly herbaceous plants or shrubs |
| – | Roses (Pink) | Potato rose (Rosa rugosa) | Shrubs | |
| Agrimoniinae | Odermine (Agrimonia L.) | Small Agrimony (Agrimonia eupatoria) | mostly herbaceous plants or shrubs | |
| Sanguisorbinae | Meadow button (Sanguisorba) | Small meadow button (Sanguisorba minor), large meadow button (Sanguisorba officinalis) | mostly herbaceous plants or shrubs | |
| Potentillea | Strawberries (Fragaria), Lady's Mantle (Alchemilla) | Strawberries (Fragaria), Lady's Mantle (Alchemilla) | mostly herbaceous plants | |
| Maloideae (apple fruit) | Pome fruit family (Pyrinae) | Pyreae | Rock pears (Amelanchier), chokeberries (Aronia), hawthorns (Crataegus), quinces (Cydonia), loquats (Eriobotrya), apples (Malus), pears (Pyrus) | Shrubs or trees |
Tip
The raspberry (Rubus idaeus) and other types of berries such as the cloudberry (Rubus chamaemorus) or the blackberry (Rubus fruticosus) also belong to the large rose family!