Asteraceae : The Largest Family of Vascular Plants

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw7ewbKnHw9SVWwBL-PopDqfAelzxE9Zfpu-OIas1E4xbOhO2hGI_mOIpjlGSMoZt-w8EO6_C4yVUpmNc9YTTW4qTOlyU6ZUq0hPO3_SqRcvQ0WIUoctta4nhpKBsOFa0zH9Sap8KYcsw/s1600/asteraceae.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="145" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw7ewbKnHw9SVWwBL-PopDqfAelzxE9Zfpu-OIas1E4xbOhO2hGI_mOIpjlGSMoZt-w8EO6_C4yVUpmNc9YTTW4qTOlyU6ZUq0hPO3_SqRcvQ0WIUoctta4nhpKBsOFa0zH9Sap8KYcsw/s200/asteraceae.jpg" width="200"></a></div><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">The <b>Asteraceae</b> or <b>Compositae</b>, also referred to as the <b>aster</b>, <b>daisy</b>, or <b>sunflower family</b>, is the largest family of vascular plants.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Stevens_3-0"></sup> The family has more than 22,750 currently accepted species, spread across 1620 genera, and 12 subfamilies.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Stevens_3-1"></sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Panero_.26_Crozier_4-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteraceae#cite_note-Panero_.26_Crozier-4"></a></sup> The largest genera are <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senecio">Senecio</a></i> (1,500 species), <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vernonia">Vernonia</a></i> (1,000 species), <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cousinia">Cousinia</a></i> (600 species) and <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centaurea">Centaurea</a></i> (600 species).</span></div>

The Asteraceae or Compositae , also referred to as the aster , daisy , or sunflower family , is the largest family of vascular plants. The...