Plant of the Week: The Asteraceae Family

I know, I know, this post is super late and not on a Sunday. So, why not. Also, I may not post one this coming Sunday either (I'll be in California and attending the engagement party being thrown for T and I). So, off we go with the Asteraceae family, which most of you would know as the daisy family. Time for a pretty picture. And... GO!

Everyone likes a pretty picture, right? Now onto the fun stuff about this family.

- The Asteraceae family is one of the largest families of flowering plants with over 20,000 species. Now that's a lot of flowers.

- It is also sometimes called the Compositae family in reference to the type of inflorescence the flowers have.

- An inflorescence is the blossom arrangement of a flower and there are many types out there. Picture time, again! Just a few types of inflorescence.


- The daisy family typically has a composite type inflorescence, meaning that it is made up of many many many smaller flowers. Take number 10 from the first pretty picture. See those white petals on the outside? Those are actually individuals flowers called ray flowers. And, in the middle, that is also many tiny flowers themselves called disc flowers. Together, all of these tiny flowers make one beautiful composite flower.

- Sunflowers, dahlias, gerberas, asters, and black-eyed susans are all a part of this family.

- The leaves of the daisy can be eaten in salads. Yum!

I'll close this one out with more pretty pictures.






This last one is for a special buddy of mine. Lurve you, wench!