#asteraceae

Leaf vocabulary 9 (fin): Each word succinctly & usefully describes a specific feature. Some, however, are obscure & niche. RUNCINATE is a word I’ve never used. It describes lobes that point toward the leaf base, as in dandelion (Taraxacum ssp.; #Asteraceae) #botany 🌾🧪🌱

Here Come the Golden Suns of Little Darling Daisies #Daisy #BellisPerennis #Leucanthemum #Wildflowers #Asteraceae #VisualPoetry #WhiteBloom #GoldenCenter #BloomInFocus #PhotographyIsArt #PhotoOfTheDay #BlueSkyArtShow #Summer #PhotographersOfBlueSky #Nature

So marcescent leaves are a thing of desert monocots, right? Not so fast. They also occur in tropical montane habitats, which are both dry and cold. Look at the mind-blowing skirts on Dendrosenecio kilimanjari from Mt. Kilimanjaro. 📷: David Bygott CCBYNCSA2 #marcescent #Asteraceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

Wild cornflower this season is everywhere! Am I the only one who thinks these look like little fireworks? Centaurea cf. napifolia, Asteraceae. #WildPlants #WildFlowers #Asteraceae #Nature #Photography #Flowers #Cornflower

In the Andes of South America, Espeletia spp. form magnificent skirts. 💃 They insulate the stems & terminal buds. 📷: Natalia Contreras CCBYNC2 #marcescent #Asteraceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

Echinops cephalotes Asteraceae Iran Esfahan Shahreza June 2026 Elevation 1700m Iran is a major center of diversity for the genus Echinops, with 72 species recorded in the Flora of Iran, including 57 endemic species. #Echinops #Asteraceae #wildflowers #botany

Many herbivorous insects sequester plant toxins & use them for defense. They have aposematic (warning) coloration. The scarlet-bodied wasp moth, Cosmosoma myrodora, adult ♂ feeds on Eupatorium capillifolium to get pyrrolizidine alkaloids. 📷: M Keim #TeamMoth #Asteraceae #Aposematism #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

You can have both kinds of symmetry on the same plant: This Ratibida pinnata (📷: Joshua Mayer CCBYSA2) has two kinds of flowers. Ray flowers are zygomorphic; disk flowers are actinomorphic. Of course, the Asteraceae are famous for this trait. #Asteraceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

Here’s one that everyone knows: Sunflower (Helianthus annuus; 📷: hourourmono CCBY2). Of course, this is not one flower. It’s a head of showy, yellow, sterile flowers surrounding a disk bearing small, dark, fertile flowers. #Asteraceae #pollination #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

You know that Velcro was inspired by the burs of Arctium lappa, which George de Mestral found stuck to his coat & his dog’s fur. The bur has spines like crochet hooks that attach to passing animals (or engineers/inventors). 📷: Georgy Vinogradov CCBY4 #Asteraceae #epizoochory #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

Sunflower family plants have large heads of short-tubed flowers that produce nectar & pollen (in the disc flowers). Any insect can access the flowers. Even butterflies, whose mouthparts give them access to deeper flowers, enjoy Silphium perfoliatum. #Asteraceae #PollinatorWeek #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

A pseudanthium (pl. pseudanthia) is an inflorescence that resembles a single flower with an eye-catching periphery & a reproductive center. Asteraceae are classic examples: ray florets are showy; disc florets are reproductive. 📷: Tithonia rotundifolia #Asteraceae #pseudanthia #botany 🌾🧪🌱