Abstract: Based on the survey of Chaenomeles cultivars resources, the numerical taxonomic method was used for the cluster analysis of 29 cultivars and 2 wild species with 41 morphological characters. The result revealed that 31 OTUs (Operational Taxonomic Units) could be divided into 4 phenetic groups according to their botanical sources, namely C.cathayensis system (Ⅰ), C.thibetica (Ⅱ), C.speciosa system (Ⅲ) and C.japonica system (Ⅳ). C.japonica system and C.cathayensis system are the most distantly related systems; C.thibetica appeared to be rather closely related to C.cathayensis; C.speciosa system together with the hybrid taxon C.superba and C.vilmoriniana takes an intermediate position between C.japonica system and C.cathayensis system. Principal component analysis showed that the 41 characters can be consolidated for the 6 principal components and their accumulative contribution ratio amounted to 72.396%. Integrated cluster analysis and principal component analysis with practical applications，the author suggested that the classification of Chaenomeles cultivars should be firstly based on the systematics of wild species (cultivar sources). Then, the flower size could be as the second criterion for the classification of Chaenomeles cultivars, and the flower color as the third criterion.

Key words: Chaenom eles, cultivar, numerical classification, principal component analysis