Here is Iris Cohen's reply in the botany newsgroup.

Her explanation should be sufficient to satisfy the non-biologist.

Bottom line is that both are in the family Rosaceae.

If by genetic affinity, you mean, can they be crossed to produce hybrids?
The answer is no. They are in separate genera that are not interfertile.


Iris Cohen wrote in message
...
Are apple and peach genetically related (and how)?

As I am not a biologist, I tried to simply google this. People say apple,
peach
and quince are closely related,

Apples, peaches, & quince are all members of the rose family, Rosaceae.
You
don't really need a table for this. In the spring, go out & look at apple
&
peach trees. If there are no peach trees around, look at cherry trees &
compare
them to apples. Look at some other members of the rose family, like single
flowered roses, hawthorns, shadbush, flowering quince, whatever grows in
your
area. You will soon see the traits they have in common. Next fall, look at
rose
hips and compare them with apples.
Apples, quince, and pears are closely related. Some authorities place them
all
in the genus Malus. They are known as pome fruits because the fruits all
have
the same structure, five small seeds enclosed in a hard fibrous container
inside an edible fruit. Peaches nowadays are placed in the genus Prunus,
along
with cherries, almonds, plums, apricots, & all the other stone fruits.
They all
have an edible fruit with one hard seed in the middle, except the almond,
which
has a thin rudimentary fruit and a hard-coated edible seed. They have many
traits in common with apples: five petals, five stamens, alternate leaves,
etc.

Iris,
Central NY, Zone 5a, Sunset Zone 40
"If we see light at the end of the tunnel, It's the light of the oncoming
train."
Robert Lowell (1917-1977)

Claudio Jolowicz wrote in message
...
Are apple and peach genetically related (and how)?

As I am not a biologist, I tried to simply google this.
People say apple, peach and quince are closely related,
they show this result by similarity tables, but no web
site I found made any statements on the genetical affinity
of apple and peach.

Thanks in advance,

Claudio

PS. Sorry for crossposting, some of these newsgroups seem to be
ill-frequented. Follow-ups to bionet.plants