Asteraceae or Compositae: Characters, Distribution and Types

Asteraceae or Compositae

 

Diagnostic characters of Asteraceae

Habit: Annual or perennial herbs or small shrubs or small tree or climbers.

Roots: Fibrous taproot

Stem: Herbaceous; spiny or without spines; cylindrical, hairy.

Leaves: Petiolate; alternate or opposite; simple; exstipulate;

Inflorescence: Capitulum surrounded at the bases with the aid of a set of involucres. The receptacle is flat. The plants within the receptacles are florets. There are two sorts of florets:

Homogamous: In this situation, all plant life is of the identical kind.

Heterogamous: In this case,  styles of vegetation are a gift within the capitula. Example: Sunflower. Sunflower has kinds of small plants, disc florets, and ray florets. The disc florets are a gift in the principal region. They’re tubular and bisexual. The ray florets are present in the direction of the outer edge. They’re pistillate or neuter.

Flower: Sessile; ebracteate: actinomorphic or zygomorphic: pentamerous every day or abnormal; whole or incomplete; unisexual Or hermaphrodite; epigynous;

 

Calyx: .Poorly evolved; commonly represented through the ring of five small enamel. They will be present in the form of small scales or hairs or bristles.

 

Corolla: Gamopetalous; tubular with 5-5 lobed or ligulate with three-four tooth. Occasionally bilabiate;

Stamens: five stamens hardly ever four; epipetalous; syngenesious (filament unfastened anther united); formitig a tube which encloses fashion.

Carpel: Bicarpellary; syncarpous; stigma bind ovary inferior; placentation basal.

It fruits: Achenial one seeded cypselM

 

 Seed: non-endospermic seed.

 

Floral formula and floral

 

Monetary significance

Food: 

some plant life of this own family are used as food Sonic of these are lettuce (fsi.–), roots and leaves of cichory.

Medicinal: 

Artemisia yields a drug santonine. It’s far useful for roundworms. Lettuce has properties resemble opium (rill.

Oils: 

Sunflower and: blemish, and many different species are cultivated for extraction of oil. This oil is used as cooking oil.

Dyes: 

The plants of C’arlharints linclorhis yield a yellow dye.

Insecticide: 

The plant life of Cluysamhemum (Lop jf) are grounded to produce a powder. It has insecticide referred to as Pyrethrum.

Poisons:

 A large wide variety of individuals of this circle of relatives like ragweeds and goldenrods purpose hay fever. Positive plant life is toxic to livestock.

Ornamental vegetation: 

Many participants of this circle of relatives are cultivated as decorative vegetation. Those are a sunflower. Chrysanthemum, Zinnia and so forth.

Weeds:

a few vegetation acts as weeds like Sonchus.

Distribution pattern

It’s miles the biggest family of Angiosperms. It has extra than 1000 genera and 93000 species. Ft is distributed to all elements of the sector.

Common species

  • Helianthus annuus (sunflower )
  • Lactuca saliva (Lettuce )
  • Sonchus asper
  • Chrysanthemums indicus

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