The family Asteraceae, alternatively Compositae, consists of over 32,000 known species of flowering plants in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. Commonly referred to as the aster, daisy, composite, or sunflower family, Compositae were first described in the year 1740. The number of species in Asteraceae is rivaled only by the Orchidaceae, and which is the larger family is unclear as the quantity of extant species in each family is unknown.
Tragopogon, also known as goatsbeard or salsify, is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. It includes the vegetable known as salsify, as well as a number of common wild flowers.
Cynara is a genus of thistle-like perennial plants in the family Asteraceae. They are native to the Mediterranean region, the Middle East, northwestern Africa, and the Canary Islands. The genus name comes from the Greek kynara, which means "artichoke".
Bidens is a genus of flowering plants in the aster family, Asteraceae. The genus include roughly 230 species which are distributed worldwide. Despite their global distribution, the systematics and taxonomy of the genus has been described as complicated and unorganized. The common names beggarticks, black jack, burr marigolds, cobbler's pegs, Spanish needles, stickseeds, tickseeds and tickseed sunflowers refer to the fruits of the plants, most of which are bristly and barbed. The generic name refers to the same character; Bidens comes from the Latin bis ("two") and dens ("tooth").
The genus Helichrysum consists of an estimated 600 species of flowering plants in the sunflower family (Asteraceae). The type species is Helichrysum orientale. They often go by the names everlasting, immortelle, and strawflower. The name is derived from the Anicent Greek words ἥλιος and χρῡσός.
Lactuca, commonly known as lettuce, is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. The genus includes at least 50 species, distributed worldwide, but mainly in temperate Eurasia.
Leucanthemum is a genus of flowering plants in the aster family, Asteraceae. It is mainly distributed in southern and central Europe. Some species are known on other continents as introduced species, and some are cultivated as ornamental plants. The name Leucanthemum derives from the Greek words λευκός – leukos ("white") and ἄνθεμον – anthemon ("flower"). Common names for Leucanthemum species usually include the name daisy, but "daisy" can also refer to numerous other genera in the Asteraceae family.
The genus Carthamus, the distaff thistles, includes plants in the family Asteraceae. The group is native to Europe, North Africa, and parts of Asia. The flower has been used since ancient times in the Philippines, which it has been called kasubha by the Tagalog people.
Liatris, commonly known as gayfeather and blazing star is a genus of flowering plants in the tribe Eupatorieae within the family Asteraceae native to North America. Some species are used as ornamental plants, sometimes in flower bouquets. They are perennials, surviving the winter and resprouting underground corms.
Crepis, commonly known in some parts of the world as hawksbeard or hawk's-beard, is a genus of annual and perennial flowering plants of the family Asteraceae superficially resembling the dandelion, the most conspicuous difference being that Crepis usually has branching scapes with multiple heads. The genus name Crepis derives from the Greek krepis, meaning "slipper" or "sandal", possibly in reference to the shape of the fruit.
Santolina is a genus of plants in the chamomile tribe within the sunflower family, primarily from the western Mediterranean region.
The Cardueae are a tribe of flowering plants in the daisy family (Asteraceae) and the subfamily Carduoideae. Most of them are commonly known as thistles; four of the best known genera are Carduus, Cynara, Cirsium, and Onopordum.
Rhaponticum is a genus of flowering plants in the tribe Cardueae within the family Asteraceae.
Dubautia is a genus of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. The genus was named after Joseph Eugène DuBaut (1796-1832), an officer in the French Navy who participated in Freycinet's expedition.
Berlandiera is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae.
Bebbia, common name sweetbush, is a genus of aromatic shrubs in the family Asteraceae.
Carthamus creticus is a plant species in the family Asteraceae, related to safflower.
Pleurophyllum is a genus of subantarctic plants in the tribe Astereae within the family Asteraceae.
Calyptocarpus is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae.
Chrysogonum is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae found only in eastern North America. Confusion regarding species that were named in Chrysogonum from other parts of the world, such as Madagascar, was clarified by Stuessy who reduced the genus to having only a single species with two varieties. A similar treatment was proposed by Nesom, although in that treatment 3 varieties were accepted. The plants are low-growing terrestrial herbs with yellow flower heads containing both disc florets and ray florets. The genus is distinctive in having pistillate ray florets and staminate disk florets, and the pistil of the ray floret is fused to the adjacent phyllary as well as 3 paleae and their associated disk florets to form a "cypsela complex". The species is grown as an ornamental plant under the common name of Green and Gold, and is used primarily as a ground cover.
