Tubular plants. Family Compositae - Knowledge Hypermarket. Asteraceae - navel flower

All representatives family Asteraceae have inflorescences - baskets with small flowers. This is a characteristic feature of all plants belonging to the Asteraceae. The corolla of their flower consists of petals welded together. There are inflorescences formed by ligulate flowers, like those of a dandelion, or tubular, like those of thistle. In some species of Compositae plants, tubular flowers are found only in the center of the basket, and along the edges there are funnel-shaped flowers, like those of cornflower, or reed-like, like those of chamomile. The calyx is replaced by a tuft of films or hairs. The flower also has five fused stamens, one carp, from which a fruit is formed - an achene.

Many plants from family Asteraceae used in agriculture. Among them, it is necessary to highlight vegetable plants (chicory, lettuce), medicinal plants (dandelion, chamomile), fodder plants (earthen pear), and oilseeds (sunflower). Among the Asteraceae there are also many ornamental plants. But there are also those that cause damage to vegetable and fodder crops. These are weeds - thistle, burdock, sow thistle, cornflower, and thistle.

Other members of the Asteraceae family. The most common plants in the Asteraceae family are field sow thistle and field thistle. These are weeds with which agricultural workers and gardeners wage a stubborn, irreconcilable struggle. Representatives of these species reach a height of more than a meter. During the flowering period, thistle has purple-red flowers, while thistle has yellow flowers. These weeds disperse 5,000–6,000 seeds per plant per summer. Their fertility exceeds that of the dandelion. In addition, the roots of these plants have many adventitious buds from which a new plant can develop. Therefore, in order to get rid of these weeds in the fields and gardens, a long-term constant fight against them is carried out.

However, not only weeds belong to the Asteraceae family. Among the useful cultivated plants, it is necessary to mention Jerusalem artichoke or earthen pear. Externally, this plant resembles a sunflower. The structure of the stem, leaves, and inflorescences is similar. But the main difference between Jerusalem artichoke is the presence of underground tubers.

Many Asteraceae are ornamental plants. In gardens and parks you can see representatives of this family, such as asters, dahlias, daisies, and chrysanthemums. Among the wild wildflowers, everyone is familiar with daisies, cornflowers, and cat's feet, which also belong to the Asteraceae.

Asteraceae are the largest family of dicotyledonous plants. It contains from 1150 to 1300 genera and more than 20,000 species. Asteraceae are found almost everywhere where the existence of higher plants is generally possible - from the tundra to the equator, from sea coasts to alpine snows, on barren sands and on rich black soils.

Plants of this family are usually easy to distinguish from representatives of other families by their characteristic inflorescence - the basket. The base of the basket is formed by an expanded bed of the inflorescence, or a common receptacle (Fig. 245), on which flowers closely adjacent to each other are located. Outside, the common receptacle is surrounded by an involucre consisting of more or less strongly modified upper leaves. The main function of the wrapper is to protect the flowers from adverse external environmental influences. The leaflets (or leaflets) of the involucre are arranged in one, two or several rows. The sizes of baskets in wild asteraceae are most often small - with a diameter ranging from one to several centimeters. Only occasionally the baskets are larger - up to 10-15 cm in diameter, and in the cultivated annual sunflower (Helianthus annuus) they reach the size of a large dish in diameter - up to 60 cm. At the same time, many wormwood baskets are tiny - only 2 in height and width -4 mm. The general receptacle can be more or less flat (as, for example, in a sunflower), but can also be concave, convex, cone-shaped or of other shapes. Its surface is often covered with films, bristles or hairs. These are modified bracts, and only the hairs may not be associated with the bracts (i.e., have a trichome nature). The number of flowers in the basket is also in certain correspondence with the size of the general receptacle. In annual sunflowers it often exceeds a thousand, but in the female inflorescences of species of the genus Ambrosia there are only 2 flowers, and the baskets of species of the genus Echinops contain only one flower (Fig. 246).

The flowers of Asteraceae are usually small. The calyx is modified into a pappus (sometimes also called a fly or pappus). The pappus consists of a more or less significant number of different types of bristles, hairs, awns, or it is represented only by a membranous rim (crown). Sometimes the tuft disappears completely, and then the flower is completely devoid of a calyx. In more primitive Asteraceae, scales are clearly visible - the rudiments of a lobed calyx. The corolla is fused-petalled. Its shape varies greatly. It is more or less actinomorphic, in which case it is tubular; if the corolla is zygomorphic, then it is most often either ligulate or so-called bilabial. There are many transitional forms between these basic forms.

The stamens, usually 5 in number, are attached to the corolla tube. The filaments of the stamens are free, and the anthers stick together with their sides, forming an anther tube through which the style passes. The anthers are mostly elongated, longitudinally dehiscent, introsular. Rarely, for example, in the genus Ambrosia, the anthers are free, and the filaments of the stamens are fused. The gynoecium consists of 2 carpels with a style that ends in 2 stigmatic lobes or branches; in sterile flowers the style is sometimes undivided. In fertile flowers, the lobes of the style protrude from the corolla and often diverge greatly. On the inside of the stigma blades, they are equipped with a special receptive (stigma) tissue. Many species of the family are characterized by the presence of so-called collecting or sweeping hairs, which help remove pollen from the anther tube. The location of these hairs (in the form of a collar under the stigmatic lobes or on a more or less significant extent of the outer side of the lobes), their density and length are very diverse. The ovary is inferior, unilocular, at the base with one ovule (very rarely there are two), located on a short placenta (funiculus). In mature seeds, there is no endosperm or only traces of it are found.

The fruit of Asteraceae is an achene. This is a single-seeded, indehiscent fruit with a more or less dense, leathery and usually thin pericarp, usually separated from the seed. Only in very rare cases, as in species of the neotropical genus Wulfia, are achenes with a succulent pericarp.

Brief information about the flower and associated structures, which were described above, refer to the well-developed bisexual flower of the Asteraceae. However, not all species of this family have all the flowers in the basket bisexual and fertile. Often there are 2 more types of unisexual flowers - female (usually fertile) and male (sterile), as well as sterile flowers in which both the androecium and gynoecium are reduced. The basket can be uniformly flowered (homogamous), but more often heterogeneous (heterogamous). In this case, the center of the basket is occupied by bisexual tubular flowers, and female and often brightly colored reed flowers radiate along the periphery. In a heterogamous basket, other combinations of flowers are observed, different in structure and sex.

The leaves are mostly alternate. The size, shape and degree of dissection of the leaf blade vary greatly, from very large, like that of the Japanese butterbur (Petasites japonicus), growing on Sakhalin, the Kuril Islands and Japan (the blade of its entire basal kidney-shaped leaf reaches 1.5 m in diameter, and the petiole 2 m long), to small, very reduced ones, like those of the American leafless baccharis (Baccharis aphylla) with twig-like photosynthetic stems. The leaves of some American vines from the genus Mutisia (Mutisia, Fig. 247) are very original. In most Asteraceae, the leaves are characterized by one or another type of pinnate venation. However, there are leaves with strictly parallel or parallel-arcuate venation, as in some species of the genus Scorzonera.

Many Asteraceae are characterized by pubescence. The hairs of Asteraceae are very diverse: single- or multicellular, hard and soft, straight and tortuous, simple (unbranched) or bifid, star-shaped. Dense pubescence is especially often well expressed in species living in conditions of constant dryness or sudden changes in temperature. Thus, growing in Central Asia, cotton wool (Lachnophyllum gossypinum) in its young state is covered, like cotton wool, with soft tangled hairs. Speaking about the aerial parts, we should also mention the noticeable percentage of thorny plants among the Asteraceae. The leaves and stems are prickly.

The vast majority of species of the family have a developed taproot. Often the root is tuberously thickened, which, for example, is characteristic of burdocks (species of the genus Arctium). Many species of the family develop contractile (retracting) roots; in plants with a basal rosette, they often ensure that the rosettes adhere tightly to the ground. In subshrub and subshrub Asteraceae, the taproot is usually woody and well developed. In addition, they form the so-called caudex or stem root - a perennial formation, mainly of shoot origin. The caudex carries renewal buds and often serves as a site for the deposition of reserve nutrients. The beautiful tree plant (Fitchia speciosa), growing on the island of Rarotonga (Cook Islands), has well-defined aerial supporting roots. Endomycorrhiza has been found in many Asteraceae.

Most Asteraceae are herbs, either perennial or annual, that range in size from very large, like some sunflowers, to tiny. But among them there are also many subshrubs and shrubs. Shrubs - from 1 to 5 m and only sometimes higher (up to 8 m). Trees, usually low, are also found among the Compositae. Many tree forms are characteristic of oceanic islands. As part of the genus Scalesia, endemic to the Galapagos Islands, species are known with trunks reaching a height of more than 20 m with a diameter of 25-30 cm, such as S. pedunculata. They form real forests. Charles Darwin mentions them in his famous “Diary of Research in Natural History and Geology...” (better known to Russian readers under the title “A Voyage Around the World on the Beagle Ship”). In South Africa and Madagascar, dioecious woody plants of the genus Brachylaena grow, and among them is a tree of the first size, endemic to Madagascar, Brachylaena merana. It reaches a height of 40 m and a diameter of up to 1 m; Its wood is resistant to rotting and is highly valued.

Among the tree-like Asteraceae there are so-called rosette trees. Their trunk does not branch or weakly branches and bears a crown of leaves at the top like a bunch or rosette. Rosette trees from the genus Senecio reach a height of 7.5 m. They are characteristic of the landscapes of the highlands of the African tropics. Many Asteraceae are cushion-shaped. Thus, Haastia pulvinaris, growing in the subalpine and alpine zones of New Zealand, forms pillows with a diameter of over 2 m and a height of 60 cm. Haastia, together with another cushion-shaped asteraceae - Raoulia eximia - due to its light, dense pubescence, stands out well among the stones.

Lianas are rare among Asteraceae. Large vines are known in the genera Vernonia, Mikania, Mutisia, Fig. 247 and a few others. All of them are inhabitants of warm countries.

Among the Asteraceae there are many leaf and stem succulents; many of them are found in garden-greenhouse culture. The largest number of succulent asteraceae live on the southern tip of Africa and further northeast to Ethiopia, as well as in Madagascar.

Aquatic plants are rare among the Asteraceae. The most famous are the North American Sclerolepis uniflora and two species of the genus Bidens. The original aquatic Mexican species are water pectis (Pectis aquatica) with a floating stem about 30 cm long and semi-submerged small-petalled heteromorphic (Erigeron heteromorphus), the upper leaves of which are entire or serrated, and those immersed in water are hair-like. An aquatic plant with opposite, thinly dissected leaves, Cotula myriophylloides grows in South Africa.

In some Asteraceae, the stems are modified in phylloclady and take on the function of photosynthesis. This is observed, in particular, in several American species of the genus Baccharis, for example in Baccharis articulata.

Like representatives of the order Campanaceae, the main storage carbohydrate in Asteraceae is inulin (and not starch, as in most other dicotyledons).

Many Compositae belong to plants with a high degree of sensitivity to light, which is expressed in the ability to open and close the baskets depending on the intensity of light. Often this sensitivity is so pronounced that it is easy to observe without resorting to any instruments. That is why among the flower clocks that were proposed in the first half of the 18th century. K. Linnaeus, Asteraceae are especially numerous. Flower clock is a set of plants planted in a small area, the flowers of which open and close at a certain time on clear sunny days. The accuracy of such watches is from half an hour to an hour. For each area, the set of plants should be different, previously established by observations.

Among the Asteraceae there are so-called compass plants. At midday, they are able to position their leaves with their edges facing the light falling on them; in this case, one wide side of the plate faces east, and the other faces west. This arrangement of leaves protects against overheating by the sun's rays and helps reduce transpiration, without reducing the intensity of photosynthesis. Compass plants are usually inhabitants of open areas. Among such plants, the wild or compass lettuce (Lactuca serriola), widespread in Eurasia, and the North American lobed silphium (Silphium laciniatum) are well known. At a time when the vast expanses of the American prairies were still poorly developed, the position of silphium leaves replaced a compass for lost hunters.

The responsiveness of some Asteraceae not only to light, but also to air humidity and other atmospheric phenomena has long been noted in the community. Therefore, species of this family serve as a kind of barometer. So, if the basket of the sow thistle opens on a more or less clear day, then rain is very likely the next day. The literature also contains data on longer-term “predictors” of weather among Asteraceae; it is indicated, for example, that the formation of a rosette of leaves in Helenium autumnale is associated with the nature of the upcoming winter.

The vast majority of Asteraceae are insect-pollinated plants. Early spring species from temperate regions often have golden or orange-yellow flowers in the basket, which stand out well in dark soil that is still lightly covered with other plants. In many Asteraceae, the inconspicuous tubular flowers of the basket are surrounded on the periphery by bright white, yellow or red large flowers, which are clearly visible from a great distance. These peripheral flowers are often sterile and perform no other function other than signaling. Insect-pollinated Asteraceae with small baskets, hardly noticeable individually, have more or less large, clearly visible common inflorescences.

Insects visiting Asteraceae are attracted by nectar, usually secreted at the base of the style, as well as pollen. The main pollinators are bees, wasps, bumblebees and other Hymenoptera, as well as Lepidoptera. More rare pollinators are hoverflies (syrphids) and other dipterans, as well as beetles and representatives of other orders of the insect class. Often the same Compositae is visited not by one or two, but by a large number of different species of insects. There is evidence that some species of the genus Mutisia are pollinated by birds.

Most Asteraceae exhibit protandry. Just like in bellflowers, the anthers open while still in the bud and the pollen ends up inside the anther tube even before the flowers open; at this male phase of flower development, the style is still short and the lobes or branches of the stigma are still tightly closed; by the time the flower opens, the column lengthens and gradually, like a piston in a cylinder, pushes out pollen, as we have already seen in representatives of the lobeliaceae subfamily of the bellflower family.

Of the features that ensure the success and accuracy of cross-pollination, of great interest is the peculiar pollen-feeding mechanism observed in quite a few Asteraceae, for example, in species of the genus cornflower (Centaurea, Fig. 248). They have sensitive filaments of stamens that have the ability to contract. As a result, when insects touch the stamens, the anther tube moves down, and the column with sweeping hairs located underneath carries out pollen, which falls on the insect. Many Asteraceae have adaptations that ensure pollination between different flowers within the same basket.

In cases where cross-pollination for some reason does not occur, self-pollination usually takes place. It is ensured by the ability of the stigmatic lobes of the style to twist so that they come into contact with their own pollen.

In relatively few Asteraceae, for example in species of the genus cocklebur (Xanthium, see Fig. 246), protogyny is observed. Anemophilia is common. It is considered as a secondary phenomenon and is characteristic of plants of wide open spaces, for example, species of wormwood (Artemisia); their baskets, as a rule, are small, inconspicuous, collected in complex common inflorescences.

Some Asteraceae have cleistogamous flowers.

In addition to the normal sexual process, apomixis is often observed in Asteraceae, especially among representatives of the lettuce subfamily, for example in the genus Dandelion (Taraxacum).

The number of fruits is very significant, and in many cases extremely large. The fruits are usually small and weigh negligible. The length of the achenes often does not exceed 5 mm and the width is 1 mm. The largest fruits are found in the above-mentioned arboreal plant; they reach a length of 5 cm. Very often, the achenes are equipped with hairs, bristles, papillae, and so on, and in some anthemideas (tribe Anthemideae), the achenes are covered on the outside with special mucilaginous cells, which apparently contribute to the germination of the primordia in dry conditions.

Among the Asteraceae there are many anemochores. Of primary importance for this is the tuft, located directly at the top of the achene or raised on an extended narrow tip - the spout. Typically, the crest consists of a different structure of hairs or bristles, which are hygroscopic and can act as a flying machine only in dry weather. The crest belongs to the most perfect adaptations of this genus in the plant world; its position - above the center of gravity - is especially successful when the crest is on the nose. In general, the crest-parachute of Asteraceae, as shown by special studies, is, as it were, calculated according to the exact laws of aerodynamics; it gives the achenes significant stability in flight and increases the dynamic lifting force acting on the achenes. The crests of Asteraceae with feathery hairs are especially perfect. Here it is appropriate to recall that the first printed work of the remarkable Russian botanist V.I. Taliev, published by him in Kazan in 1894, is devoted to a detailed study of the mechanism of movement of hygroscopic hairs of the tuft. Lecocarpus pinnatifidus, a shrub endemic to the Galapagos Islands, has a flying apparatus made of a covering leaf.

Very small and light achenes of Asteraceae, such as those of wormwood, although they do not have a special aircraft, are also partially carried by the wind.

In Asteraceae, which grow near water, the primordia are often carried by water, for example, in some species of butterbur (Petasites), string (Bidens), etc. In the creeping chorisis (Chorisis repens), in the USSR, growing in the Far East on the sands and pebbles of sea coasts and at the mouths of large rivers, the achenes have a thickened, porous shell - an adaptation to their dispersal by water.

Among the Compositae there are many zoochoric species. In the desert ephemeral Koelpinia linearis, the achenes are seated on the back with hooked spines and, in addition, end at the end with a bunch of the same spines collected in the form of an anchor. Thanks to this, Kelpinia fruits stick to animal fur and human clothing. In burdocks, when the achenes ripen, entire fruit baskets easily break off from the plants and, thanks to the tenacious leaves, the wrappers stick to the hair of animals and people’s clothing. For a relatively small number of species, the phenomenon of myrmecochory was also noted. The fruits of some Asteraceae are dispersed when their elastic stems or peduncles are swayed. These are the so-called ballista plants. Their achenes are completely without a tuft or have tufts of coarse hairs, and sometimes are too short to be suitable for dispersal by the wind.

There are achenes that can crawl some distance from the mother plant, as, for example, in blue cornflower (Centaurea cyanus) and common cornflower (Crupina vulgaris). The pappus of these plants is too small for anemochory. But thanks to the hygroscopic movements of the bristles of the pappus, falling down during rain and spreading out in dry weather, the achene is able to crawl.

Among the Compositae there are also representatives belonging to the tumbleweed life form. They are characteristic of plants living in open (treeless) spaces, for example in the steppes. An example of them is the spreading cornflower (C. diffusa), which in the USSR grows in open places, mainly in the south of the European part and in the Caucasus. Another example is the dwarf asteriscus (Asteriscus pygmaeus). It is an annual plant distributed from the Sahara to Balochistan and has hygroscopic involucre leaves. After the achenes ripen, these leaves close, and the plant can remain in this state for 8-10 months. The dispersal of achenes, associated with the opening of the involucre, occurs in wet weather, which contributes to their successful germination.

In the last few centuries, when communication and transportation of various goods between continents and countries became intense, the exceptional fertility of some Asteraceae, combined with their unpretentiousness, allowed them to develop vast new spaces, many times larger than their original (natural) range. An example is the North American conyza (Conyza canadensis), which first appeared in Europe only in the 17th century. and now has become a cosmopolitan. There are also well-known cases when European Asteraceae, having arrived on other continents, began to displace the aborigines there. Thus, drooping thistle (Carduus nutans), introduced to North America from Europe at the end of the last century, has now become a widespread and difficult to eradicate weed there.

,

Among the biological features of Asteraceae achenes, let us also mention the heterocarpy, or heterocarpy, observed in many species of this family. Heterocarpy is well expressed in the officinalis calendula (Calendula officinalis, Fig. 249, table 64), widely known for the shape of its curved achenes called “marigolds”. In one basket of calendula there are claw-shaped, navicular and ring-shaped achenes, as well as transitional forms between them.

The Asteraceae family is divided into 2 subfamilies: Asteraceae (Asteroideae), which unites the vast majority of genera of the family and includes 11-12 tribes, and a more homogeneous subfamily of Lettuceae (Lactucoideae), or Chicoryaceae (Cicliorioideae), which includes only one tribe. We have the opportunity to touch only on some of the most important tribes.

Rice. 1 Sumy cornflower; buzulnik reniform; Anaphalis pearl (a flower) fig. 2 doronicum eastern; DoronicumAustrian; Chondrilla ruminaceae Fig. 3 hairy hawkweed (a flower); swamp skerda; Telekia is beautiful The largest family... Forest herbaceous plants

Asteraceae Image of 12 inflorescences of Asteraceae Scientific classification Kingdom: Plants Division: Angiosperms ... Wikipedia

- (Asteraceae, or Compositae) family of dicotyledonous plants; includes about 25 thousand (according to other sources, 13-20 thousand) species (900-1000 genera), distributed throughout the globe and represented in all climatic zones. Most S.... ...

Asteraceae, order (Asterales) of dicotyledonous plants and units, family (Asteraceae, or Compositae) of this order. Herbs, less often subshrubs, shrubs, tree-like forms (so-called rosette trees) and trees (in the tropics). Inflorescence basket,... ... Biological encyclopedic dictionary

GOLDENROAD OR GOLDEN ROD (SOLIDAGO VIRGAUREA L.)- see Perennial with oblique, short rhizome and straight, bare or pubescent stems, 20-80 cm high. With winged petiole, ovate or spatulate; stem leaves petiolate or upper sessile, oblong or lanceolate, acute, ... ... Forest herbaceous plants

MYCELIS MURALIS (L.) DUMORT.- see. Perennial or biennial with a short vertical rhizome and single bare stems, branched at the top, 30-120 cm high. The lower ones are rosette-shaped, with long winged petioles, lyre-shaped and pinnately dissected, with... ... Forest herbaceous plants

TsMIN, OR SANDY IMMORTELLA (HELICHRYSUM ARENARIUM (L.) MOENCH)- see Turfy, tomentose perennial, with shortened vegetative and elongated generative shoots. The stems are 15–40 cm high, unbranched, straight, with remnants of dead leaves on the rhizome. The lower leaves are petiolate, linear... ... Forest herbaceous plants

KITAMURA, OR KOMAROV'S UNDERripening (CACALIA KITAMURAE NAKAI (C. KOMAROVIANA (POJARK.) POJARK.)- see. Perennial with a creeping rhizome and a stem 1-2 m high, furrowed and pubescent at the top with glandular hairs. The leaves are large, 20-35 cm long. They are spear-shaped, their lateral lobes are double-cut, with long pointed lobes of the second... ... Forest herbaceous plants

Image of 12 aster inflorescences ... Wikipedia

Angiosperms (Magnoliophyta, or Angiospermae), a division of higher plants that have flowers. There are over 400 families, more than 12,000 genera and probably at least 235,000 species. According to the number of species of C. r. significantly superior to all others... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

Class dicotyledonous. Family Compositae (Asteraceae)

What do they have in common?familiesAsteraceae and the family Pasaceaelinen? Why are these plants soWhat are their names and how many of them are there on Earth?

Among the wild-growing Compositaenyh most famous and beloved - vaSilk and chamomile. But can you do them?distinguish? Are all cornflowers blue?Are we really guessing with daisies?

Let's answer these questions,and also find out which plantsbelong to this family.

General characteristics of the family Compositae. In total there is on Earth250 thousand species of flowering plants,of which 25 thousand species are Compositaeny, which amount to 1000 births.Asteraceae can be seen everywhere:in forests and steppes, in tundra and desert,in the tropics and mountains.

The first of them to bloom in early springmelts coltsfoot. GoldenOdu vanchiki signal the startsummer, but most of them are asteraceaenykh begins to bloom in midsummerand blooms until late autumn. In ouron the edges they are all herbaceous plantsnia, even sunflower, height up to4 m, is grass. In the tropics there isand shrubby forms.

All Asteraceae have one common feature:inflorescence - basket , by which they are easy to recognize. Although the size of the basket can be 30 cm for sunflowers, and several millimeters forwormwood or salad. Large, bright inflorescences are pollinated by insects, while nondescript ones are pollinated by the wind. This inflorescence is often confused with a large flower (even insects make mistakes - they mistake the inflorescence for one flower). Contributes to thiswrapper - the leaves that surround the basket are reminiscent of sepals. And also the fact that in the basket itself the flowers can be different in shape.

U reed Flower petals grow together into a tube, leaving the upper part free - in the form of a tongue with 5 teeth. These are dandelion flowers or marginal chamomile flowers. In the center of the chamomile are tubular flowers. A tubular flower has petals fused into a tube with a five-toothed edge. There are alsofunnel-shaped flowers. They look like a wide funnel with teeth. In cornflower, funnel-shaped flowers do not have stamens and pistils, but serve to attract insects to the tubular, not so bright, flowers.

Four types of flowers:

reed(dandelion, chicory)	tubular(thistle, inner flowers of cornflower)
funnel-shaped, do not have stamens and pistils (outer cornflower flowers)	pseudolingulate, have 3 fused petals, can be asexual (at the edges of the inflorescence of chamomile, sunflower)

However, all flowers have a double perianth with a peculiar calyx consisting of a tuft of hairs or scales. The corolla consists of 5 fused petals. There are also 5 stamens, fused with their anthers. There is one pistil (if the flower is bisexual) with a bilobed stigma. The fruit of all Asteraceae isachene , often with a tuft of hairs - a flying fruit.

Wild plants of the Asteraceae family

Mayweed - an annual or biennial plant with an erect stem and dissected leaves. In the basket at the edges there are white reed flowers, which can be mistaken for petals that attract insects. These flowers are unisexual, female, with only 3 teeth at the top, not 5, they are called false-ligulate. In the middle there are yellow tubular flowers with 5 teeth. There is no calyx, 5 stamens are fused with anthers, one pistil. The fruit is an achene. Inodorous chamomile does not have white outer flowers.

Basketschamomile officinalis used in the treatment of gastrointestinal diseases and for rinsing. All daisies are annual weeds.

A plant that is commonly called chamomile iscornflower . Perennial, with whole, rather than dissected, serrated leaves and large single baskets. Common in meadows and often grown as an ornamental plant.

It also has medicinal value yarrow - It is used as a gastric and hemostatic agent. Some yarrows are grown as ornamental plants. Yarrow gets its name from its heavily dissected leaves.

U blue cornflower marginal flowers are funnel-shaped, asexual. It is an annual, crop weed and ornamental plant. The petals are used as an eye remedy. Cornflowers come not only blue, but also pink, yellow and white.

Dalmatian chamomile (pyrethrum), which can be found in our gardens and flower beds, is a good insecticide.

Wormwood , a weed, is a good stomach remedy.

Roots chicory used as surrogate coffee. It is a weed and an ornamental plant.

Field thistle And sow thistle pink - this is the same type of perennial dioecious weed with a long rhizome that easily produces root shoots. The basket consists only of tubular flowers.

Thistle, a weed of poorly cultivated fields, has the same inflorescences.Thistle - a good honey plant.

Field sow thistle with yellow baskets of reed flowers - a malicious weed of the Asteraceae.

Dandelion officinalis with baskets of only reed flowers, it is also a weed used in medicine. Despite the bitter taste, it is edible, and young scalded leaves are suitable for salad.

Cultivated plants of the Compositae family. Among the plants of this family there are not only medicinal and weeds, but also ornamental, food, fodder, and industrial plants. Therefore, much attention is paid to the study of the family.

The most important food plant issunflower . Its best domestic varieties were bred by Academician V. S. Pustovoit. The achenes contain up to 57% oil. The oil is used for food, as well as in soap making and paint and varnish production. The cake, threshed baskets and silage are used to feed livestock. So the whole plant is used.

The homeland of sunflower is South America. It was brought to Europe by the Spaniards in 1510. Sunflower came to Russia from Holland and was first used as an ornamental and gnawing plant. But in 1829, the serf peasant of the Voronezh province D.S. Bokarev received oil from sunflower seeds for the first time. This crop immediately began to be widely cultivated in Russia, and in the middle of the 19th century it was exported from Russia to the USA and Canada.

Various organs of Asteraceae are used for food. Leaves salad, root tubers Jerusalem artichoke(ground pear), juicy wrapper scalesartichoke . U salsify, for example, the juicy white roots taste like oysters.

There are surprisingly diverse ornamental asteraceae that reign in flower beds in the second half of summer and autumn. The queen among them is chrysanthemum, one of the symbols of Japan. Good also dahlias Asteraceae are the largest family of flowering plants. Among them there are many medicinal, ornamental, food, and also weed plants. Sunflower, the leading oilseed crop, has important nutritional value. Asteraceae are herbaceous plants. Their most characteristic feature is the inflorescence basket. As a rule, Asteraceae have five-membered flowers, the fruit is an achene, sometimes with a tuft of hairs. Asteraceae have a fused corolla of five petals

This includes plants in which normal, bisexual flowers have a tubular corolla shape. At the same time, the baskets can contain only tubular flowers, and, in addition to them, also so-called false-ligulate and funnel-shaped flowers, which are only pistillate or sterile and are located along the edge of the basket.

Common tansy, wild rowan(Tanacetum vulgare) (Fig. 115, 1 - 7) is a widespread plant; it will serve us as an example of Asteraceae with baskets consisting of completely identical tubular flowers.

For classes, you must have herbarium samples of tansy, as well as dry baskets for analysis (they should be steamed in hot water before classes). Tansy blooms from early July until late autumn.

Tansy is a perennial plant with a highly developed rhizome. The stems are straight, strong, with alternate leaves. The leaves are pinnately dissected, with jagged segments and in appearance resemble rowan leaves. There are no stipules. The plant smells strongly. The baskets are yellow, collected in a dense corymbose raceme.

Let's take the basket and, placing it on the magnifying table, examine it. First of all, let's turn the basket with its bottom side towards the eyepiece. In this position, it is clear that on the outside it is surrounded by leaves, tiled and tightly overlapping each other. Bending them with needles, we will see that they have an ovoid-lanceolate shape, and along the edge they are edged with a membranous brownish border. Together, these leaves form the so-called basket involucre. The involucre of Asteraceae can be very varied. Firstly, it can be single-, double-row or multi-row. Secondly, the shape of the involucre leaflets varies not only among different genera or species of the family, but also within the same basket, where the marginal, middle and inner leaflets differ from each other in shape or color. The nature of the involucre is of great importance in recognizing Compositae, so when analyzing the inflorescence it is necessary to carefully examine it. By their origin, the involucre leaves are highly modified apical leaves.

Having cut off the peduncle, place the basket with its upper side facing the eyepiece. Examining it from above with a 10X magnification magnification, we note a mass of yellow identical flowers with directly protruding corolla teeth. In the basket, flowers bloom from the edge to the middle. Let's cut the tansy basket lengthwise in the middle and examine it. It is clearly noticeable that the common receptacle is convex and the flowers are attached to it. Using a needle, we separate several flowers from this common receptacle and see that a pitted mark remains at the place of their attachment. Such a receptacle is called pitted (Fig. 117, 6). If we now remove all the flowers from the receptacle, then from the pits remaining on its surface we will clearly see their spiral arrangement. Changing the magnifying glass to 20X, let's look at tansy flowers. The flowers are typical, tubular, the ovary and corolla tube are covered with short, glandular hairs. The ovary is ribbed, in its upper part, under the corolla, in place of the calyx, a serrated margin is visible. There are five teeth, and they are clearly visible if we bend them a little with needles. To study the internal structure of the flower, we should open the corolla tube and, carefully unfolding it, follow the stamens. The filaments of the stamens are free, but their anthers are stuck together and, as the flower unfolds, they separate from each other without noticeable damage. There are five stamens, and their anthers are quite large. At the top of each stamen, its ligament gives rise to an outgrowth (usually triangular in shape). Let's isolate the stamens along with the style from the flower and examine them in their natural position. The style has a bipartite stigma, the blades of which are bent at right angles (Fig. 115, 2, 3, 4).

pharmaceutical camomile(Matricaria recutita) (Fig. 115, 8) is also a widespread plant. Releases a large amount of essential oils. Let's take a basket of chamomile and look at it. The most striking feature of its organization are the flowers with white tongue-like corollas located along the edge of the basket. Let's cut the basket lengthwise and note the following:

1) strongly convex, hollow inside receptacle;

2) a large number of tubular bisexual flowers already familiar to us with yellowish corollas;

3) long white tongues along the edge, baskets belong to the marginal flowers, which we can clearly see if we separate several of them from the receptacle with a needle. Let's put such an unusual flower in the field of view of the magnifying glass and examine it. At the bottom of the flower there is an ovary and a short corolla tube is visible, the upper part of which is elongated in the form of a long white tongue with three teeth at the top.

Such a corolla probably arose from a two-lipped one as a result of reduction of the upper lip, which consisted of two fused petals (as always happens in quintuple flowers when zygomorphy arises) *. Thus, in the basket of chamomile there are two types of flowers: regular, five-membered bisexual flowers with yellow corollas, occupying the middle of the inflorescence, and flowers that are sharply zygomorphic, single-lipped, white - marginal (K (5) C (5) A (5) G - (2) and K 0 C 3+0 A 0 G - (2).)

* (Let us remember the Lamiaceae, in which the upper lip is also sometimes underdeveloped and a tongue-shaped, tripartite lower lip remains in the flower (for example, in oak trees). Asteraceae with a two-lipped corolla are known here in Siberia and the Far East - this is Siberian Leibnitzia Anandria (Fig. 117, 0).)

Let's open the corolla tube of the marginal flower and note that it has no stamens, but only a pistil, and therefore it is a female flower.

Among our regular daisies there are two more types. Mayweed(Matricaria inodora) looks similar to chamomile; Its main difference from chamomile is that its receptacle is less convex and filled inside with loose tissue (Fig. 115, 9).

Chamomile(Matricaria matricarioides) is as strong-smelling as our pharmacy, and we should know the signs that distinguish them from each other. What is striking is the strongly convex common receptacle, on which yellowish-green flowers are located. The flowers in the basket are all tubular and very small (no more than 3 mm).

Sunflower(Helianthus annuus) (Fig. 116, 10) is an annual plant with stems up to 3.5 m in height. The inflorescences of the basket reach 30 cm in diameter and have up to 1000 flowers. In the middle of the basket the flowers are bisexual, tubular along the edge, ligulate, sterile. It is bred in the steppe and forest-steppe regions for the oil contained in its achenes (30 - 50%). The seed is used as a delicacy. Homeland - North America. The main area of ​​his culture is in our country. Most of the best oilseed sunflower varieties were bred at the breeding stations of the Soviet Union.

Common coltsfoot(Tussilago farfara) (Fig. 116, 6 - 8) is one of the earliest flowering plants in our flora. Coltsfoot can always be found already in early April on bare cliffs not inhabited by other plants, on fresh railway embankments and, less often, on fallow lands and fields.

When preparing material, it is necessary to keep in mind that coltsfoot blooms before the leaves appear, so specimens in flowers should be collected earlier, and fruits and leaves later.

Considering the herbarium materials, we note the following:

1) long rhizomes covered with brown scales;

2) succulent pale flower stems, also covered with densely arranged pale scaly leaves;

3) single large baskets at the top of flowering stems, with a two-row cylindrical involucre;

4) leaves are white-tomentose below and green, bare above.

Moving on to the analysis of flowers, we note that all the flowers in the basket are yellow, but dimorphic: the edges are ligulate, the middle ones are tubular (bell-shaped in the upper part). Reed flowers are arranged in several rows along the edge of the basket. Let's look at the flowers - tubular and reed. Their structure is the same as that of species of previous genera. The significant difference is that in place of the calyx in coltsfoot flowers there is a hairy pappus, which remains when the achenes ripen, turning into a fly. The seeds are dispersed by the wind.

In addition, one more circumstance deserves our attention. In the coltsfoot basket, tubular bisexual flowers do not bear fruit, and only ligulate female flowers bear fruit. We will be convinced of this if we take a mature basket and look at which flowers in it bear fruit.

meadow cornflower(Centaurea jacea) (Fig. 116, 1-5) will serve us to get acquainted with marginal flowers that have an oblique funnel-shaped corolla. The plant is distributed throughout almost the entire European part of our country and lives in meadows, thickets of bushes, and on the edges of forests. Large purple baskets of meadow cornflower can be seen already in June among the meadow herbs.

Looking at the meadow cornflower, we note that its leaves are simple, whole and, together with the stems, slightly rough.

Let's move on to the study of baskets and flowers, as a result of which we note the following: a multi-row involucre, which seems loose due to the protruding membranous tops of its leaves. The color of the wrapper is brownish, and this feature belongs to the species characteristics of meadow cornflower. To study the nature of the wrapper leaves, we should use needles to separate them one or two at a time, starting from the outer to the innermost row. It should be borne in mind that the outer leaves of the wrapper sit very firmly and can be separated only by prying deeply with a needle or scalpel; the remaining leaves come off easily. Now let’s take one leaf each from the outer, one of the middle and the innermost rows and, placing them side by side, compare them with each other. First of all, we note that these are true green leaves, but each of them ends in a brown membranous appendage. The shape of the leaflets of the involucre is very important when recognizing individual species of the large genus Cornflower, so you should carefully examine the leaves of all three tiers of the involucre. The outer leaves are equipped with large appendages equal to the green part of them, the membranous edges of which are dissected into irregular spine-like pointed teeth. The appendage of the middle leaflets is equal to only half their length, it is rounded and spoon-shaped, concave, sometimes entire along the edge, but more often irregularly toothed or fringed. The inner leaflets of the involucre are linear, long, and their membranous appendage is barely a quarter of the length of the leaflet, pointed and finely toothed along the edge.

For further analysis, let's cut the basket lengthwise. Note that the general receptacle of meadow cornflower is slightly convex (almost flat). The flowers are surrounded by a whole brush of fine hair-like bristles. Having removed the flowers from the edge to the middle of the basket, we will see that these hairs cover the entire receptacle. This receptacle is called hairy. Now let's take care of the flowers. Let's take one of the marginal flowers and even without the help of a magnifying glass we will see that it is equipped with a long and narrow tube, which ends in a funnel at its top. The edge of the funnel is oblique and dissected into five unequal narrow lobes, of which the lower three are larger than the upper two. This corolla retains some features of a two-lipped corolla and is, as it were, one of the modifications of the two-lipped corolla. Funnel-shaped flowers are zygomorphic. If we look into the mouth of the funnel, we will see neither stamens nor stigma in the flower. Let's open the corolla tube, unfold it and make sure that there are no traces of stamens in the funnel-shaped cornflower flowers, and there are neither a style nor stigmas at the top of the underdeveloped ovary. The marginal flowers of cornflower are sterile. Now let’s move one of the middle cornflower flowers into the field of view of the magnifying glass. The flower is relatively large, tubular, with five long linear teeth at the top. The tube is long and swollen above its middle. A long style emerges from the throat of this flower, surrounded by purple anthers. The ovary is located at the bottom of the flower. The flower is tubular, bisexual. Such flowers make up the majority of flowers in the basket. Through a magnifying glass we see that the ovary is covered with white protruding hairs, at its apex there is a very narrow margin of the calyx and an annular nectary, and sometimes short hairs are visible under them. The base of the ovary is cut obliquely. Let's open the corolla tube and unfold it along its entire length. We will see that at the level of the swelling of the tube, filaments of stamens are attached to it from the inside, the anthers of which have fused into a tube. A long style with a bifid stigma at the apex passes through this tube. Under the stigma there is a brush of hairs, a ring surrounding the top of the style.

To understand the purpose of this brush, you should take a flower for analysis from the middle of the basket (where they have not yet fully blossomed) and see in what position its stigma and brushes are relative to the anthers. You can see that the stigmas are still closed (stacked with each other) and are located deep in the stamen tube, while the anthers are already opening and pouring pollen inside this tube. The first conclusion that suggests itself here is that the cornflower is protandry (for when the anther pours out pollen, the stigmas are still closed). Protandry is characteristic of most Asteraceae. In cornflower, the following happens: when an insect, taking nectar from the bottom of a flower, touches the filaments of the stamens, they, having high irritability, contract, and then, straightening up, push out a column, the brush of which will sweep the pollen out. This pollen is captured by insects, which remain in the cornflower baskets for a long time, moving from flower to flower. When all the pollen has poured out, the style stretches out, extends beyond the stamen tube, its stigmas open and the flower is ready for pollination. We saw our first flower in this exact state. In other Compositae, the pollen, falling out, is retained by the brush, and when the style is extended and passes through the stamen tube, the brush sweeps the pollen out of it.

The main distinguishing feature of this family is that, as the name itself shows, its flowers are complex, that is, what is commonly called a flower is actually a whole inflorescence of small flowers. These flowers sit on a common bed, that is, the extended end of a peduncle, which has a flat, concave or convex surface and is surrounded by a common involucre, a common calyx, consisting of one or more rows bracts(small leaves located on a peduncle) - it turns out something like a basket. Individual flowers are usually very small, sometimes very small, only 2-3 mm long. They consist of an inferior ovary, unilocular and single-seeded, at the top of which is attached a petaled corolla. At its base there is usually a row of hairs or bristles, several denticles or a membranous border. These formations correspond to a rudimentary calyx.

The corolla is fused-petalled, varies greatly in shape, but there are two most common types: tubular, with a regular five-tooth bend, and an irregular one, the so-called reed, and all five of its lobes grow together into one plate, bent in one direction. All Asteraceae, with rare exceptions, have five stamens; they grow with their filaments to the corolla tube, and with their anthers they grow together into one hollow tube surrounding the style, which ends in a bipartite stigma of a different structure.

In many plants of the described family, the heads consist only of tubular flowers, such as cornflowers, burdock, thistle, and artichoke. Others, like dandelion, goatweed (scorzonera), lettuce, chicory, etc., have all ligulate flowers. Finally, still others have both types of flowers in each head: reed-shaped around the circumference, and tubular in the center (for example, sunflower, aster, dahlia, marigold, marigold, chamomile).

We can also mention the third type of corolla - bilabiate, in which three lobes of the corolla are directed in one direction, and the remaining two in the other.

The size of the inflorescence is usually small, up to several centimeters in diameter; and only in some species it reaches a diameter of 10-15 cm, and in cultivated sunflower, which has the largest inflorescence in the family, it can reach up to 60 cm. At the same time, in some types of wormwood, the height and width of the inflorescence does not exceed 2-4 mm .

Leaves

Pollination

Spreading marigolds ( Tagetes patula)

Spreading

Asteraceae are distributed throughout the globe, but they play a particularly important role in North America. They also live in significant numbers in Central Asia and throughout southern Europe, but towards the north the number of their species decreases significantly.

Application

As a food product

Like flowers

Paints

Weeds

Among the dangerous weeds we can distinguish plants from the genus Ambrosia ( Ambrosia), causing allergic hay fever. Ambrosia comes from America, but has spread very widely throughout the world, including in Russia - 5 species out of 30. Galinsoga parviflora can also be classified as a weed. Galinsoga parviflora), some types of sequence ( Bidens) and etc.

Classification

The Asteraceae family includes two subfamilies - Asteraceae (subfamily) ( Asteroidae) and Lettuce, or Chicory, or Molocanaceae ( Lactucoideae, or Cichorioideae ) .

In the literature, other names for these subfamilies are sometimes found - respectively Tubeflowers(lat. Tubuliflorae) And Reed(lat. Liguliflorae). This name for the subfamily Asteraceae is due to the fact that its representatives have mostly tubular flowers, and only marginal flowers are ligulate. Representatives of the Lettuce subfamily always have ligulate flowers.