Asteraceae, commonly known as the aster, daisy, composite or sunflower family, is a large family of flowering plants in the order Asterales comprising over 32,000 known species across more than 1,900 genera, with widespread distribution from subpolar to tropical regions across a wide variety of habitats. The family's defining feature is its compound flower heads, or capitula, made up of sometimes hundreds of tiny individual florets enclosed by a whorl of protective involucral bracts; first described in 1740, its species count rivals only Orchidaceae, though which family is larger remains uncertain.
Facts
Taxonomic Rank Scientific Name Member Species/Taxa Count Geographic DistributionEvery continent except Antarctica 1 Defining CharacteristicsCompound flower heads (capitula) of sometimes hundreds of tiny florets enclosed by a whorl of protective involucral bracts 1 Identification
Distinguishing AppearanceFlower heads with strap-shaped ray florets around a disc of smaller, radially symmetric disc florets 1 Sources
1. Wikipedia: Asteraceae
Lead, first sentence, family clause
is a large family of flowering plants
Lead, second sentence
The number of species in Asteraceae is rivaled only by the Orchidaceae
Lead, first sentence, species count clause
is a large family of flowering plants that consists of over 32,000 known species in over 1,900 genera
Distribution and habitat
they are found on every continent but Antarctica
Lead, sentence on compound flower heads
compound flower heads, technically known as capitula, consisting of sometimes hundreds of tiny individual florets enclosed by a whorl of protective involucral bracts
Floral heads
The "petals" or "sunrays" in an "asteraceous" head are in fact individual strap-shaped flowers called ray flowers or ray florets
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