COMPOSITE FAMILY 



493 



of Dicotyledons. The most conspicuous character of the 



family is the grouping of the flowers into a compact head, which 



is surrounded by bracts 



forming the structure 



called involucre (Fig. 



446). The flowers are 



epigynous, the corolla 



is usually tubular or 



strap-shaped, and the 



five stamens are in- 



serted on the corolla 



and usually have their 



anthers united in a tube 



around the style. The 



calyx is often a tuft of 



hairs (pappus) . They 



have developed very 



effective means of dis- 



seminating their seeds. 



In many, as the Dande- 



lion and Thistles illus- 



FlQ 444 _ A Coffee tree 

 After Lecomte. 



fmit> 



trate, the pappus forms 



a parachute-like ar- 



rangement, which enables the fruit to be easily transported by 



the wind. In others, as the 

 Burdock, Cocklebur, and 

 Spanish Needles illustrate, 

 the fruits have hooks or 

 spines, which catch onto pass- 

 ing animals. 



Although the family is a 

 large one, it contains only a 

 FIG. 445. Flower, fruit, and seeds few food plants, of which Let- 



of the Coffee. At the left, a flower, tuce, Chicory, Oyster plant, 



and at the right, a fruit with the upper the Globe Artichoke, and 



portion of the ovary removed to show Jerusalem Artichoke are the 



the two seeds. After Karsten. 



chief ones. Some, as Arnica, 



Boneset, Camomile, Dandelion, Tansy, and Wormwood, are 

 used some for Medicine, and from the seeds of the Sunflower oil 

 is extracted. 



