Dryadoideae

Dryadoideae
Dryas × suendermannii
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Rosales
Family: Rosaceae
Subfamily: Dryadoideae
(Lam. & DC.) Sweet
Genera

The subfamily Dryadoideae consists of four genera in the family Rosaceae, all of which contain representative species with root nodules that host the nitrogen-fixing bacterium Frankia. They are subshrubs, shrubs, or small trees with a base chromosome number of 9, whose fruits are either an achene or an aggregate of achenes. It includes five genera (Dryas, Cercocarpus, Chamaebatia, Cowania, and Purshia), all of which except the first only occur in North America.