Native Plants: Asteraceae Family

In the world of native plants, the word "aster" can refer to two different things. There is the aster plant, which was last week's topic, and there is the aster family of plants, which is referred to as Asteraceae and includes many other native plants in addition to "aster" that are commonly seen in residential gardens. Asteraceae is one of the largest families of plants and includes nearly 1,620 genera, within which there are nearly 23,600 species of not only herbal plants but also trees and shrubs. As the classification of plants takes into account Family, Genus, and Species, knowing the genus of each plant within a family helps to understand which plants are more closely related than others.

The name "aster" is derived from the Greek word for star, which is an accurate description of the appearance of these plants. Plants included in the Asteraceae family are also characterized by what appear to be single flower heads that actually consist of a large number of smaller flowers referred to as florets. As can be seen in the diagram below, disc florets are the long bell-shaped florets that extend from what appears to be the head of the flower, while the long ray florets extend out from around the head like petals. The florets are surrounded and initially protected by leaflike structures referred to as bracts.

Please take a few minutes to view the video below, which goes into more detail on the different characteristics of the Asteraceae family of plants and shows many examples of plants that are included within this very large family.

One of the most surprising things about the Asteraceae family is the range of plants that it encompasses, including many that are very familiar to us. For instance, the following plants are part of the Asteraceae family and thus closely related:

• Aster

• Daisy

• Sunflower

• Black-eyed Susan

• Goldenrod

• Marigold

• Zinnias

• Chrysanthemums

Other common plants that you may not have known belong to the Asteraceae family include the following:

• lettuce

• Jerusalem artichoke

• thistle

• dandelion

• ragweed

• chicory

I will try to cover many of these plants in future posts as they all have their unique characteristics and uses. And yes, even noxious weeds such as the dandelion, ragweed, and thistle have their uses.

Images (from left to right) of ragweed, dandelion, and thistle, which are all members of the Asteraceae Family.

Helpful Hints

I would recommend purchasing a book on native plants, particularly one that is focused on the Asteraceae family. There are several that you can purchase on Amazon, but if you have a specific recommendation, please feel free to post a comment.