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Key to Asteraceae

Asteraceae

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1 Plant a shrub or liana (woody vine), definitely with woody growth well above ground level
1 Plant an annual, biennial, or perennial herb, lacking woody growth above ground level (or suffrutescent at the base).
  2 Leaves opposite or whorled, at least on the lower stem nodes (the leaves higher on the stem sometimes alternate).
  2 Leaves either alternate (not opposite even at lower nodes of the stem) or basal only (the heads on scapiform stems).
      4 Heads not liguliflorous (the heads instead composed of disc florets (discoid, disciform) and/or ray florets (radiant, or radiate); plant sap usually clear.
        5 Heads borne on stems with leaves, the leaves alternate, opposite, or whorled on the stem, and sometimes also well developed basal leaves or rosettes.
          6 Heads discoid or disciform (composed primarily of disc florets and peripheral filiform florets), OR heads radiant, essentially composed of ordinary disc florets and dilated periphereal florets (these peripheral florets dilated, perfect, pistllate, or netural, but lacking broadly expanded laminae of ordinary ray florets).
             7 Leaves not spiny-margined; phyllaries spine-tipped or not; disk flowers variously colored (including pink)
               8 Pappus well-developed, of bristles, awns, scales, or a combination of these.
          6 Heads radiate, with both central disc and peripheral ray florets, the ray florets with prominent laminae.
                   10 Rays yellow, cream, orange, or rarely red-tinged.
                   10 Rays white, pink, purple, or bluish.
                       12 Pappus well-developed, of bristles, awns, scales, or a combination of these.