Click the number at the start of a key lead to highlight both that lead and its corresponding lead. Click again to show only the two highlighted leads. Click a third time to return to the full key with the selected leads still highlighted.

Click images to enlarge and show more photo credit.

Key to Rosaceae, Key C: Shrubs and trees with simple leaves

Rosaceae

Copy permalink to share | Check for keys that lead to this key

(c) Weakley, Alan
1 Ovary inferior; fruit indehiscent (pome).
(c) Bradley, Keith
  2 Inflorescence a panicle, of > 25 flowers (6-40 in Pyracantha); leaves leathery, evergreen.
(c) Danielson, Erik
(c) Fleming, Gary P.
    3 Plants armed with thorns
      4 Pomes purplish-black, 7-10 mm in diameter, each with 3-5 seeds; leaves mostly 10-30 cm long
      4 Pomes orangey yellow, (10-) 20-30 mm in diameter, each with 1-2 seeds; leaves (2-) 4-10 cm long
  2 Inflorescence an axillary or terminal raceme, fascicle, cyme, or umbel, of < 20 flowers; leaves herbaceous, deciduous.
(c) Ward, Scott G
        5 Upper surface of leaves bearing dark glandular trichomes along the midrib (most easily seen with a 10× hand lens); shrubs
        5 Upper surface of leaves lacking dark glandular trichomes along the midrib; shrubs and trees.
(c) Fleming, Gary P.
(c) Radford, Ahles and Bell
          6 Ovary and fruit 10-locular; inflorescence a raceme (rarely a fascicle); pome < 1 cm in diameter
          6 Ovary and fruit 5-locular; inflorescence a cyme, umbel, or fascicle (lacking an elongated central axis); pome 0.7-10 cm in diameter.
(c) Lance, Ron
(c) Campos, Aidan
             7 Styles distinct; exocarps (carpels within pericarp) bony and seedlike; trees and shrubs, with thorns
             7 Styles usually connate at base; exocarps leather or papery and easily opened to expose seeds; small trees, unarmed, or armed with sharp spur branches.
(c) Weakley, Alan
(c) Marcum, Paul
               8 Pome globose to ovoid, lacking stone cells; anthers yellow to white; styles connate at the base; leaves blunt to acuminate; [apples and crabapples]
(c) Bradley, Keith
(c) Weakley, Alan
(c) Fleming, Gary P.
               8 Pome globose or pyriform, with stone cells; anthers reddish; styles distinct; leaves acute to acuminate; [pears]
© Scott Ward
1 Ovary superior; fruit dehiscent (aggregate of follicles, or capsule) or indehiscent (drupe, aggregate of drupelets, aggregate of achenes).
(c) Fleming, Gary P.
(c) Fleming, Gary P.
                 9 Leaves opposite; fruit an aggregate of usually 3-5 purple to black drupelets; [tribe Kerrieae]
                 9 Leaves alternate; fruit various (see below; if an aggregate of drupelets, then with >5 drupelets).
(c) Danielson, Erik
                   10 Leaves large, > 10 cm wide, palmately veined, palmately lobed; fruit an aggregate of drupelets; [tribe Rubeae]
                   10 Leaves smaller, < 8 cm wide, pinnately veined, either not lobed or basally pinnately lobed; fruit a drupe, a capsule, an aggregate of follicles, or an aggregate of achenes.
                     11 Leaves singly serrate or entire (rarely, as in Prunus americana, irregularly and slightly doubly serrate), not lobed basally.
(c) Ward, Scott G
                       12 Gynoecium of separate carpels; fruit an aggregate of follicles; [tribe Spiraeeae]
                          13 Ovary 5-angled in ×-section; fruit a 5-angled capsule; leaves obovate, obviously broadest towards the tip; [tribe Osmaronieae]
(c) Bradley, Keith
(c) Bradley, Keith
                          13 Ovary circular in ×-section; fruit a fleshy spherical drupe; leaves generally broadest near or below the middle; [tribe Amygdaleae]
(c) Weakley, Alan
                     11 Leaves doubly serrate, also often lobed towards the base.
(c) Weakley, Alan
                            14 Corolla yellow; stems arching, green; fruit an aggregate of drupe-like achenes (dry and indehiscent); [tribe Kerrieae]
                            14 Corolla white to pink or rose; stems not both arching and green; fruit various (see below).
(c) Ware, Richard & Teresa - CC-BY-NC, permission granted to NCBG
(c) Ward, Scott G
(c) Ware, Richard & Teresa - CC-BY-NC, permission granted to NCBG
                              15 Inflorescence a dense, umbel-like corymb; leaf apices rounded to acute; fruit an aggregate of 5 follicles; [tribe Neillieae]
                                16 Fruit a single follicle; [exotic, planted, and rarely naturalized, as in e. VA]; [tribe Neillieae]
                                16 Fruit an aggregate of 2-4 drupe-like achenes; [rare native of calcareous habitats in sc. TN, nw. GA, n. AL, and disjunct westward in AR and MO]; [tribe Kerrieae]