DAISY, DANDELION, AND THISTLE FAMILY 405 



The plant is found abundantly in the salt marshes along the 

 coast line ; often forming, witli Samolus Uttoralis, a carpet 

 starred with white flowers, just above high water mark, on the 

 edges of the estuaries and salt-water lagoons. Its method of 

 pollination is most interesting'". 



The little white flower has a curiously one-sided appearance, 

 and the casual observer almost invariably thinks that half the 

 corolla is torn away. 



Compositae. 



The Daisy, Dandelion, and Thistle Family. 



Distribution. — This is the largest family of flowering plants, comprising 

 12,000 species. Some of the species contain a milky, acrid juice. Under cultivation, 

 many of the Compositae produce so-called ' ' double ' ' flowers, e.g. the disk florets, 

 usually tubular, tend to become ligulate or rayed. This is seen in the Daisy, the 

 Chrysanthemum, the Dahlia, etc. 



The Chicory, the Endive, the Artichoke, and the Lettuce, are also members 

 of this family. 



Contrivances for Pollination and Seed Dispersal. 



A family which includes nearly ten per cent, of all the 

 known flowering plants must be one which is well fitted to 

 survive m the struggle for existence, and is likely also to 

 represent a highly developed type. Indeed, the Composites are 

 generally regarded as being at the head of the Vegetable 

 Kingdom. It is worthy of note that the majority of the 

 species are herbs, though, amongst the New Zealand forms, 

 there is an unusually large percentage of shrubs. Very often 

 they are plants with radical leaves. 



In such a successful family, it might be anticipated that the 

 various devices for polHnation and distribution of the seed 

 would cause diversity of structure, but the characters of the 



'Oheeseman Trans., Vol. IX. p. 34'3. 



