Sunflower family

Asteraceae

The plants in this family are characterized by having what looks like a single flower head, but is actually a tightly packed head of numerous smaller flowers. These smaller flowers are made up of two different types of flowers: disk flowers and ray flowers. The disk flowers are tube shaped, while the ray flowers are positioned on the outer edge of the head with a straplike shape (commonly called the 'petals'). Flower heads in this family can include all disk fowers, all ray flowers, or both disk and ray flowers. (For an example, look to the picture shown of Indian Plantain. It includes only disk flowers. Click the picture to see it larger.) Because of the possible variations this can present, the sunflower family is divided into two subfamilies and then further divided into at least 17 tribes.

• Genera/Species - 1,160/19,085 (second largest family of flowering plants in the world)
• U.S./Canadian - 346 genera; 2,687 species
• Texas - 196 genera; 682 species
• Food plants - Cynara (artichoke), Helianthus (sunflower seeds and oil, Jerusalem-artichoke), Lactuca (lettuce), Cichorium (chicory, endive), Carthamus (safflower oil, dye)
• Ornamental plants - Aster, Calendula, Chrysanthemum, Dahlia, Helianthus (sunflower), Wedelia, and Zinnia

Behind the Name :

Families are usually named after their largest or most prominent genus. This family's name comes from the Aster genus who gets its name from aster for "star", which refers to the star-shaped flowers common in that genus. The Aster genus has ### species and is the largest in the Asteraceae family. These include wildflowers as well as many cultivated ornamental varieties.

There are several alternate family names for Asteraceae family, both scientific and common. These include: Compositae, Composite family, Aster family, Sunflower family, Daisy family. This family was known as Compositae (the Composites or Comps) in the past. This comes from the compound (or composite) flower head that is found in this family. [See above for discussion on this. ]

[Butterflies]

• Dainty Sulpher (Nathalis iole) - nectar and larval food
• Great Purple Hairstreak (Atlides halesus) - nectar
• Ceraunus Blue (Hemiargus ceraunus) - nectar
• Silvery Checkerspot (Charidryas nycteis) - larval food
• Eufala Skipper (Lerodea eufala) - nectar
• American Painted Lady (Vanessa virginiensis) - larval food, though not primary
• Little Metalmark (Calephelis virginiensis) - nectar and larval on the Bull Thistle

Tags :

native Texas wildflowers, Texas native wildflowers, native plants, garden worthy, Comps, DYC