| the plant family Rosaceae, characterized by trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants having compound or simple leaves with stipules, flowers typically with five sepals and five petals, and fruit in a variety of forms, many of which are fleshy and edible, and including the almond, apple, apricot, blackberry, cherry, cinquefoil, hawthorn, peach, pear, plum, raspberry, rose, spirea, and strawberry. |
| rose family n. A large family of plants, the Rosaceae, characterized by showy flowers with five separated petals and numerous stamens borne on the margin of a cuplike structure, including important fruit plants such as the apple, cherry, peach, pear, plum, raspberry, and strawberry, as well as ornamentals such as the rose and spirea. |