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__NOTOC__{{Plantbox

__NOTOC__{{Plantbox

| name = ''''

| name = ''Compositae''

| common_names =     <!--- if multiple, list all, if none, leave blank -->

| common_names = Composite Family

| color = IndianRed

| color = IndianRed

| image = Upload.png  <!--- Freesia.jpg -->

| image = Upload.png  <!--- Freesia.jpg -->

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Compositae (name having reference to the aggregation of the flowers into heads or false flowers, i.e., composite flowers). Composite Family. Fig. 57. Herbs, shrubs, or rarely trees, sometimes twining, often with milky juice: leaves alternate, opposite or whorled, very diverse in shape, size and texture : flowers bisexual or unisexual, regular or irregular, epigynous; subtended by a bract called chaff; aggregated into 1- to many- flowered involucrate heads; calyx (pappus) reduced to hairs, scales, awns, or a border, or wanting; corolla gamopetalous, normally regular, 4—5-lobed; the lobes valvate; in one tribe bilabiate; often enlarged and split down one side, and flattened out (ligulate or ray flowers); stamens usually 4-5, epipetalous, syngenesious, alternating with the corolla lobes; carpels 2; ovary 1-celled, 1-ovuled, inferior; style 1; stigmas 2, rarely 1: fruit an achene, often crowned by the persistent pappus; seed exalbuminous.

Compositae (name having reference to the aggregation of the flowers into heads or false flowers, i.e., composite flowers). Composite Family. Herbs, shrubs, or rarely trees, sometimes twining, often with milky juice: leaves alternate, opposite or whorled, very diverse in shape, size and texture : flowers bisexual or unisexual, regular or irregular, epigynous; subtended by a bract called chaff; aggregated into 1- to many- flowered involucrate heads; calyx (pappus) reduced to hairs, scales, awns, or a border, or wanting; corolla gamopetalous, normally regular, 4—5-lobed; the lobes valvate; in one tribe bilabiate; often enlarged and split down one side, and flattened out (ligulate or ray flowers); stamens usually 4-5, epipetalous, syngenesious, alternating with the corolla lobes; carpels 2; ovary 1-celled, 1-ovuled, inferior; style 1; stigmas 2, rarely 1: fruit an achene, often crowned by the persistent pappus; seed exalbuminous.

This is the largest family of flowering plants, consisting of more than 800 genera and 10,000 to 12,000 species, distributed over all parts of the earth, each tribe usually having a definite center of distribution. The largest genera are: Senecio, 1,200 species; Centaurea, 470; Vernonia, 450; Hieracium, 400; Helichrysum, 300; Baccharis, 275; Cousinia, 210; Artemisia, 200; Crepis, 170; Erigeron, 150; Chrysanthemum, 140; Saussurea, 125; Gnaphalium, 120; Circium, 120; Scorzonera, 100; Anthemis, 100. The Compositae, taken in the broad sense, is a well-defined family not closely related to any other large families. Its affinities are with the Campanulaceae, Dipsacaceae, and Valerianaceae. In general, the involucrate heads, epigynous gamopetalous flowers, syngenesious stamens, 1-seeded dry fruits and exalbuminous seeds are distinctive. In some genera the heads have no ray flowers (discoid), in others they have a marginal row, and in still others all the flowers are ligulate. Except in the last case, the ray flowers are without stamens, and frequently without a pistil (neutral). The style-branches are very diverse, and are important in the characterization of tribes. They are often provided with sweeping hairs which push the pollen from the introrse anthers up out of the anther tube as the style elongates. The anthers are caudate in two tribes, and in some genera the filaments contract abruptly when stimulated by touch. In Ambrosia and Xanthium, the anthers are separate, and the bracts of the 1-2-flowered pistillate involucre are fused, woody, indehiscent, and covered with spines or hooks.

This is the largest family of flowering plants, consisting of more than 800 genera and 10,000 to 12,000 species, distributed over all parts of the earth, each tribe usually having a definite center of distribution. The largest genera are: Senecio, 1,200 species; Centaurea, 470; Vernonia, 450; Hieracium, 400; Helichrysum, 300; Baccharis, 275; Cousinia, 210; Artemisia, 200; Crepis, 170; Erigeron, 150; Chrysanthemum, 140; Saussurea, 125; Gnaphalium, 120; Circium, 120; Scorzonera, 100; Anthemis, 100. The Compositae, taken in the broad sense, is a well-defined family not closely related to any other large families. Its affinities are with the Campanulaceae, Dipsacaceae, and Valerianaceae. In general, the involucrate heads, epigynous gamopetalous flowers, syngenesious stamens, 1-seeded dry fruits and exalbuminous seeds are distinctive. In some genera the heads have no ray flowers (discoid), in others they have a marginal row, and in still others all the flowers are ligulate. Except in the last case, the ray flowers are without stamens, and frequently without a pistil (neutral). The style-branches are very diverse, and are important in the characterization of tribes. They are often provided with sweeping hairs which push the pollen from the introrse anthers up out of the anther tube as the style elongates. The anthers are caudate in two tribes, and in some genera the filaments contract abruptly when stimulated by touch. In Ambrosia and Xanthium, the anthers are separate, and the bracts of the 1-2-flowered pistillate involucre are fused, woody, indehiscent, and covered with spines or hooks.