Asteraceae

Asteraceae
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta
Class:	Magnoliopsida
Order:	Asterales
Family:	Asteraceae Bercht. & J.Presl

The family Asteraceae or Compositae (the aster, daisy, or sunflower family) is the largest family of flowering plants, and has the most species.

What looks like its flower is really a composite flower, made up of hundreds or thousands of tiny individual flowers. The technical term for it is a pseudanthium ("false flower").

The driving force for the evolution of the Asteraceae was that the composite flowers are attractive to pollinating insects.

The Asteraceae have large brightly coloured flowers whose appearance, scent (of their pollen), and nectar make them attractive to insects, who then carry their pollen from place to place. Their success is due to a combination of this, and their ability to grow almost anywhere (especially on grass). Indeed, the aster family is very successful (over 32,000 known species of flowering plants in over 1,900 genera in the order Asterales).

Heterocarpy, or amphicarpy, the ability of an annual species to produce different fruit morphs, is common in Asteraceae. It allows seeds to be dispersed over varying distances, each type adapted to different environment. This increases the chances of survival.

References

Wikispecies has information on: Asteraceae.