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.
Hypochaeris radicata – also known as catsear, flatweed, cat's-ear, hairy cat's ear, or false dandelion – is a perennial, low-lying edible herb often found in lawns. The plant is native to Europe, but has also been introduced to the Americas, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand, where it can be an invasive weed. It is listed as a noxious weed in the northwestern U.S. state of Washington.
Sonchus asper, the prickly sow-thistle, rough milk thistle, spiny sowthistle, sharp-fringed sow thistle, or spiny-leaved sow thistle, is a widespread plant in the tribe Cichorieae within the family Asteraceae.
Taraxacum officinale, the dandelion or commondandelion, is a flowering herbaceous perennial plant of the dandelion genus in the family Asteraceae. The common dandelion is well known for its yellow flower heads that turn into round balls of many silver-tufted fruits that disperse in the wind. These balls are usually called "clocks" in both British and American English. The name "blowball" is also used.
Symphyotrichum laeve is a flowering plant native to Canada, the United States, and Coahuila (Mexico). It has the common names of smooth blue aster, smooth aster, smooth-leaved aster, glaucous Michaelmas-daisy and glaucous aster.
Taraxacum is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, which consists of species commonly known as dandelions. The scientific and hobby study of the genus is known as taraxacology. The genus is native to Eurasia and North America, but the two most commonplace species worldwide, T. officinale and T. erythrospermum, were introduced into North America from Europe and now propagate as wildflowers. Both species are edible in their entirety. The common name dandelion is also given to specific members of the genus.
Malacothrix glabrata, commonly known as the smooth desert dandelion or desert dandelion, is an annual plant in the family Asteraceae. It is common to the southwestern deserts of North America and has showy pale-yellow to white flowers. The name "glabrata" refers to the leaves being (nearly) hairless. Like other members of its genus, it has a milky sap and flower heads composed of smaller strap-like flowers called "ligules".
Krigia is a genus of North American flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. Plants of the genus are known generally as dwarf dandelions or dwarfdandelions.
Agoseris heterophylla is a liguliferous species in the family Asteraceae known by the common name annual agoseris or mountain dandelion. It is widespread in mostly drier regions of western North America from British Columbia to Baja California.
Scorzoneroides autumnalis, commonly called autumn hawkbit, is a perennial plant species, widespread in its native range in Eurasia, and introduced in North America.
Krigia biflora, also known as two-flower cynthia or two-flower dwarf dandelion, is a species of plant in the family Asteraceae. It is native to North America, where it is found in central Canada and in the eastern, central, and southwestern United States. This species is rare in Connecticut, and it is listed as a species of special concern.
Crepis biennis is a European species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae with the common name rough hawksbeard. It is native to Europe and Asia Minor, as well as being sparingly naturalized in scattered locations in the northeastern United States and on the island of Newfoundland in eastern Canada. Many people think that they are dandelions because they look so alike but that is only because both are in the daisy family.
Hedypnois rhagadioloides, the Cretanweed or scaly hawkbit, is a species of plant in the tribe Cichorieae within the family Asteraceae. It is native to the Mediterranean Region and neighboring areas from Canary Islands to Iran, and naturalized in Australia and in parts of the Americas.
Lactuca ludoviciana, the biannual lettuce, is a North American species of wild lettuce. It is widespread across much of central and western Canada and the western and central United States from Ontario west to British Columbia and south to Louisiana, Texas, and California. Most of the known populations are on the Great Plains; populations west of there may well represent naturalizations.
Krigia virginica, also known as dwarf dandelion or Virginia dwarf dandelion, is a North American species of plants in the family Asteraceae. This plant is a spring annual, consisting of a small rosette of leaves up to 6" across and one or more flowering stalks up to 14" tall. Individual plants can bloom while they are a remarkably small size. The basal leaves are up to 3" long and ¾" across. They are light green, oblanceolate, and often pinnatifid with shallow lobes that are pointed at their tips. Their margins are often ciliate, slightly undulate, and sparingly dentate. Each flowering stalk is unbranched and devoid of leaves; it is largely hairless, although there may be a few scattered hairs along its length, especially near the top. Both the basal leaves and flowering stalks contain a white latex.
Krigia cespitosa, known as common dwarf-dandelion, opposite-leaved dwarf-dandelion, or weedy dwarfdandelion, is a North American species of plant in the family Asteraceae. It is native to northeastern Mexico and to the southeastern and south-central United States, from Florida to Texas and north as far as southeastern Nebraska, southern Illinois, and central West Virginia
Krigia montana, known as mountain dwarfdandelion, is a North American species of plants in the family Asteraceae. It is native to the Great Smoky Mountains and other nearby peaks in the southern Appalachians of Tennessee, the Carolinas, and Georgia. It is found on cliffs and outcrops at high elevations.
Krigia occidentalis, known as western dwarfdandelion, is a North American species of plants in the family Asteraceae. It is native to the southern Great Plains and the Ozark Mountains of the south-central United States.
Krigia wrightii, known as Wright's dwarfdandelion, is a North American species of plants in the family Asteraceae. It is native to the southern Great Plains of the south-central United States.
