CHAPTER XI 

 THE ORDER ROSACEA 



Four important groups of commonly grown fruits belong to 

 the Order RosacecW These are the pome-fruits, represented by 

 the apple, pear, and quince; the drupe-fruits, to which belong 

 the apricot, cherry, nectarine, peach, and plum; the brambles, 

 which include many species of blackberries, dewberries, and 

 raspberries; and strawberries. 



149. Characters of Rosaceae. — The plants in the Rose Family 

 are trees, shrubs, or herbs, often thorny and sometimes climbing 

 or trailing, as in the dewberries and blackberries. The leaves 

 in all the pomological plants are alternate, and either simple as 

 in the pome- and drupe-fruits, or compound as in some brambles 

 and the strawberry, and with stipules in all. There are several 

 kinds of flower-clusters in the Family, as will be seen in the 

 description of genera, the many different sorts of inflorescences 

 being one of the peculiarities of Rosaceae. The flowers are regu- 

 lar and perfect in all the cultivated fruits excepting the straw- 

 berry in some of which there are imperfect flowers. There are 

 five sepals in the calyx, united at the base, and as many petals 

 which are distinct and inserted with the stamens on the edge of 

 a disk which lines the calyx-tube. The stamens are numerous. 

 The carpels are one to many, separate and superior, or united 

 and inferior. The ovaries bear one to many ovules. The fruits 

 of pomological plants are pomes, drupes, or achenes. 



It is interesting that, while there is no plant of importance to 

 the farmer as a fodder crop or as a vegetable, by far the most 

 valuable edible fruits for the temperate zones belong to Rosaceie. 

 The fruits in this Order encircle the earth in the cultivated parts 

 of temperate climates. 



There are about 90 genera and 1500 species in Rosacea^, which 

 authors variously' divide into six to ten tribes with a tendency 

 on the part of some modern botanists to make each of these tribes 



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