Asterales is an order of dicotyledonous flowering plants that includes the large family Asteraceae known for composite flowers made of florets, and ten families related to the Asteraceae. While asterids in general are characterized by fused petals, composite flowers consisting of many florets create the false appearance of separate petals.
The family Asteraceae, with the original name 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.
Amelanchier, also known as shadbush, shadwood or shadblow, serviceberry or sarvisberry, juneberry, saskatoon, sugarplum, wild-plum or chuckley pear, is a genus of about 20 species of deciduous-leaved shrubs and small trees in the rose family (Rosaceae).
A lignotuber is a woody swelling of the root crown possessed by some plants as a protection against destruction of the plant stem, such as by fire. Other woody plants may develop basal burls as a similar survival strategy, often as a response to coppicing or other environmental stressors. However, lignotubers are specifically part of the normal course of development of the plants that possess them, and often develop early on in growth. The crown contains buds from which new stems may sprout, as well as stores of starch that can support a period of growth in the absence of photosynthesis. The term "lignotuber" was coined in 1924 by Australian botanist Leslie R. Kerr.
Erica arborea, the tree heath or tree heather, is a species of flowering plant (angiosperms) in the heather family Ericaceae, native to the Mediterranean Basin and Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania in East Africa. It is also cultivated as an ornamental.
Gmelina arborea,, locally known as gamhar, is a fast-growing deciduous tree in the family Lamiaceae.
Vernonia is a genus of about 350 species of forbs and shrubs in the family Asteraceae. Some species are known as ironweed. Some species are edible and of economic value. They are known for having intense purple flowers. There have been numerous distinct subgenera and subsections named in this genus, and some botanists have divided the genus into several distinct genera. For instance, the Flora of North America recognizes only about twenty species in Vernoniasensu stricto, seventeen of which are in North America north of Mexico, with the others being found in South America.
The silversword alliance, also known as the tarweeds, refers to an adaptive radiation of around 30 species in the composite or sunflower family, Asteraceae. The group is endemic to Hawaii, and is derived from a single immigrant to the islands. For radiating from a common ancestor at an estimated 5.2±0.8 Ma, the clade is extremely diverse, composed of trees, shrubs, subshrubs, mat-plants, cushion plants, rosette plants, and lianas.
Lachanodes arborea, the she cabbage tree, is a small tree in the family Asteraceae. It is an endangered endemic of the island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is now extinct in the wild.
Terminalia chebula, commonly known as black- or chebulic myrobalan, is a species of Terminalia, native to South Asia from India and Nepal east to southwest China (Yunnan), and south to Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and Vietnam.
Pachycauls are plants with a disproportionately thick trunk for their height, and few branches. This can be the product of exceptional primary growth or disproportionate secondary growth as with Adansonia. The word is derived from the Greek pachy- meaning thick or stout, and Latin caulis meaning the stem. All of the tree species of cactus are pachycauls, as are most palms, Cycads and pandans. The most extreme pachycauls are the floodplains, or riverbottom variety of the African Palmyra with primary growth up to seven feet in thickness, and the Coquito Palm with primary growth up to six feet thick. The most pachycaulous cycad is Cycas thouarsii at up to five feet in diameter. The tallest pachycaul is the Andean Wax Palm at up to 220 feet. and about 16 inches (41 cm) in diameter. The most pachycaulous cactus is the Bisnaga with primary growth up to 4 ft 4 in in diameter. The largest caudex type pachycaul is the African Baobab. One called the Glencoe Baobab at Hoedspruit, South Africa has a basal diameter of 52 ft 2 in. This tree suffered a severe trauma and is dying.
Brachylaena huillensis is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It is found in the montane forests of Angola, Kenya, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. With a height of up to 131 feet ( it is, with Vernonia arborea candidates for the tallest of all Composites and at up to 60 centimeters also the most massive.
Brachylaena is a genus of flowering plants in the aster, or composite, family, Asteraceae or Compositae. Several are endemic to Madagascar, and the others are distributed in mainland Africa, especially the southern regions.
Dubautia arborea, the tree dubautia or Mauna Kea dubautia, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. A member of the silversword alliance, it is endemic to the island of Hawaiʻi. It is a shrub or small tree. It is an endangered species that is threatened by feral grazing animals.
Gevuina avellana, is an evergreen tree, up to 20 meters tall. It is the only species currently classified in the genus Gevuina. It is native to southern Chile and adjacent valleys in Argentina. It is found from sea level to 700 meters above sea level. Its distribution extends from 35° to 44° south latitude. The composite leaves are bright green and toothed, and the tree is in flower between July and November. The flowers are very small and beige to whitish, are bisexual and group two by two in long racemes. The fruit is a dark red nut when young and turns black. The peel is woody. It can grow up straight or branched from the soil, making up either a tree or a shrub.
Vernonieae is a tribe of about 1300 species of plants in the aster family. They are mostly found in the tropics and warmer temperate areas, both in the Americas and the Old World. They are mostly herbaceous plants or shrubs, although there is at least one tree species, Vernonia arborea.
Kopsia arborea is a tree in the family Apocynaceae.
Tarlmounia is a plant genus in the family Asteraceae. The sole species is Tarlmounia elliptica, native to India, Burma and Thailand and naturalised in southern Taiwan and Queensland, Australia. Common names include curtain creeper, vernonia creeper and parda bel.
Strobocalyx is a genus of Asian, African, Pacific Island, and South American plants in the tribe Vernonieae within the family Asteraceae. It is sometimes regarded as part of the genus Vernonia.
Vernonia alleizettei is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It is endemic to Madagascar.
