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. 

 44-6). 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 man}'-, as the Dande- 

 lion and Thistles illus- 

 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 

 few food plants, of which Let- 

 tuce, Chicory, Oyster plant, 

 the Globe Artichoke, and 

 Jerusalem Artichoke are the 

 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. 



Fig. 444. — ■ A Coffee tree in fruit. 

 After Lecomte. 



Fig. 445. — Flower, fruit, and seeds 

 of the Coffee. At the left, a flower, 

 and at the right, a fruit with the upper 

 portion of the ovary removed to show 

 the two seeds. After Karsten. 



