Presented in Association with the Western New Mexico University Department
of Natural Sciences
Asteraceae (Aster or Sunflower Family, Compositae)
The Asteraceae are a diverse group of flowering plants which all follow the same
basic structural plan of a flower head made up of a disc of many small individual flowers. They are what
most people imagine as the basic "daisy" type of flower. Most but not all
of the Asteraceae will have petals, each of which really is part of an individual small flower. The
Asteraceae generally have their 5 petals fused together into a floral tube, which usually remains
five-lobed near the apex. The five stamens fuse together around the pistil. The seeds, attached
at one point to the receptacle, are called "achenes" and are each formed by one small flower. At the
end of the achene opposite the receptacle is the "pappus," which can be absent but more commonly is made
up of bristles, hairs or scales. The pappus is what carries away the dandelion seeds when you blow on the flowerhead. The floral bracts at the base of the receptacle are called "phyllaries," and they may form
one or many layers.