Beschreibung:
<jats:p>Maleae consists of economically and ecologically important plants. However, there are considerable disputes on generic circumscription due to the lack of a reliable phylogeny at generic level. In this study, molecular phylogeny of 35 generally accepted genera in Maleae is established using 15 chloroplast regions.<jats:italic>Gillenia</jats:italic>is the most basal clade of Maleae, followed by<jats:italic>Kageneckia</jats:italic>+<jats:italic>Lindleya</jats:italic>,<jats:italic>Vauquelinia</jats:italic>, and a typical radiation clade, the core Maleae, suggesting that the proposal of four subtribes is reasonable. In the core Maleae including 31 genera, chloroplast gene data support that the four<jats:italic>Malus</jats:italic>-related genera should better be merged into one genus and the six<jats:italic>Sorbus</jats:italic>-related genera would be classified into two genera, whereas all<jats:italic>Photinia</jats:italic>-related genera should be accepted as distinct genera. Although the phylogenetic relationships among the genera in Maleae are much clearer than before, it is still premature to make a formal taxonomic treatment for these genera.</jats:p>