412 
47. COMPOSITACE JE . 
cleft ligulate or bilabiate, the divisions valvate in bud, and the 
4-5 nerves of the tube corresponding with their sinuses. Stam. 
5 inserted in the tube of cor. ; filaments mostly free distinct 
jointed towards the top, rarely monadelphous ; anthers linear 
erect combined into a tube (syngenesious) embracing the style , 
bursting inwards, with always an apical and mostly 2 basilary 
awn-like or tail-like appendages. Ov. 1 -celled 1 -ovulate, 
ovule erect. Style 1 mostly 2-fid, stigmas 2. Fr. a cypsela 
( achaenium DC.) consisting of a single erect seed without albumen , 
coated with the dry indehiscent altogether adherent cal. -tube, 
crowned mostly with a distinct pappus. Embryo erect straight, 
the radicle inferior directed towards the hilum. 
Mostly herbaceous or suffrutescent rarely arborescent erect 
rarely climbing pi. with bitter aromatic tonic or milky narcotic 
juices, found in all parts of the globe and constituting accord- 
ing to DC. about T V of its vegetation. L. without stip. 
never compound yet often compositisect mostly alternate some- 
times opposite. Inflorescence dimorphous; general, (mostly 
corvmbosely) cvmose, centrifugal ; partial i. e. of each particular 
head, centripetal. FI. y. or w., more rarely red or purple, very 
rarely blue, seldom fragrant. Florets or Jl. proper either all 
perfect (heads homogamous ), or heterogamous the inner (of the 
disk ) perfect and outer (of the ray or margin) imperfect (female 
or neuter), rarely variously monoecious or dioecious : all col- 
lected on a common recept. ( clinanthium Cass.) or flat, conical 
or elongate torus-like top or apex of the ped. and expanding 
centripetally from the margin to the centre. When all the fl. 
are tubular the heads are called discoid or Jloscidose (e. g. Arte- 
misia, Carduus ) ; when all are strap-shaped, ligidate or semi- 
Jlosculose (e. g. Sonchus, Taraxacum, Lactuca). When the fl. 
of the disk or centre are tubular and of the ray or margin ligu- 
late, the fl. are termed radiate or rayed (e. g. Beilis, Chrysan- 
themum). The recept. is either in whole or part chaffy ( palea- 
ceous) or scaly — i. e. furnished witli chaffy scales ( bractlets ) in 
continuation inwards of those of the involucre (bracts or phyl- 
laries) and placed one at the outer base of each fl., — or naked 
i. e. devoid of such chaffs or scales (bractlets) though often 
/ imbrilliferous from the margin of the pits or cells, alveolae or 
areolae (obsolete pentangular alveolae), into which the fl. or seeds 
are inserted being lacerato-toothed or shortly setiferous. Pap- 
pus of ripe fr. either simple — and then either soft ( pilose ) or 
stiff {setose) and either smooth or rough with minute denticu- 
lations of pubescence, — or feathery witli long hairs ( plumose ) ; 
sometimes it is in 1 -several rows, sometimes entirely wanting. 
Distinguished from IHpsacaceae by the valvate aestivation of 
cor., coherent (syngenesious) anthers, erect exalbuminous ovule 
or seed wholly adherent to cal. -tube, and absence of a special 
involucel or outer cal. to the fits. 
