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The aster or sunflower family (Family Asteraceae or, alternatively Family Compositae) is a taxon of dicotyledonous flowering plants. The family name comes from the Genus Aster and refers to the star-shaped flower head of its members, typified as well by the daisy. The Asteraceae is the largest family in the Magnoliophyta, with some 1,100 genera and over 20,000 recognized species. The common characteristic of all these plants—what in common parlance might be called a "flower"—is an inflorescence or flower head: a densely packed cluster of many small, individual flowers, usually called florets (meaning "small flowers").

Plants in the Family Asteraceae typically have one or both of two kinds of florets. The outer perimeter of a flower head like that of a sunflower is composed of florets possessing a long strap-like petal, termed a ligule; these are the ray florets. The inner portion of the flower head (or disc) is composed of small flowers with tubular corollas; these are the disc florets. The composition of asteraceous inflorescences varies from all ray flowers (like dandelions, genus Taraxacum) to all disc flowers (like pineapple weeds).

A typical Asteraceae flower head (here Bidens torta ) showing the individual flowers The composite nature of the inflorescences of these plants led early taxonomists to call this family the Compositae. Although the rules governing naming conventions for plant families state that the name should come from the type genusType specimens When a new species is "discovered", more important than creating a new and unique name for the species is developing a reasonably detailed description. Although in reality a biologists may examine many specimens (if available) of the new sp—in this case Aster and thus Asteraceae— the long prevailing name, Compositae, is authorized as an alternative family name (ICBN, 1999, Art. 18.6).

The numerous genera are divided into about 13 tribes. Only one of these, Lactuceae, is considered distinct enough to be a subfamily (Subfamily Cichorioideae); the remainer, which are mostly overlapping, are put in the Subfamily Asteroideae (Wagner, Herbst, and Sohmer, 1990).

Many members of Asteracae are copious nectar producers, and are useful for evaluating pollinatorA pollinator is the agent that moves pollen from the male anthers of a flower to the female stigma of a flower to accomplish fertilization or syngamy of the female gamete in the ovule of the flower by the male gamete from the pollen grain. Though the term populations during their bloom. Centaurea (knapweed), Helianthus annuus (domestic sunflower), and some species of Solidago (goldenrod) are major " honeyHoney is a sweet and viscous fluid produced by bees and other insects from the nectar of flowers. The flavor and color of the substance is largely determined by the type of the flowers from which the nectar is gathered. Common flavours of honey include or plants" for beekeepers. Solidago produces relatively high protein pollenSEM image of pollen grains from a variety of common plants: sunflower Helianthus annuus , morning glory Ipomea purpurea ,hollyhock Sildalcea malviflora , lily Lilium auratum , primrose Oenothera fruticosa , and castor bean Ricinus communis . Pollen is a f, which helps honeybeeThe honeybee is a colonial insect that is often maintained, fed, and transported by farmers. Honeybees are a subset of bees which fall into the Order Hymenoptera and Suborder Apocrita. There are about 20,000 species of bees which exist all around the worls overwinter.

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Topics: Asteraceae Family Flowers Florets Plants Head Flower Small...

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Asteraceaemany, see list The aster or sunflower family (Family Asteraceae or, alternatively Family Compositae is a taxon of dicotyledonous flowering plants. The family name comes from the Genus Aster and refers to the star-shaped flower head of its members, typifie