The Compositae Family

The Compositae is highly nested in the Asterid lineage and contains what is arguably the largest number of accepted species of any plant family, between 24000 and 30000. There are 1600–1700 genera distributed around the globe except for Antarctica. The family is characterized by florets arranged on a receptacle in centripetally developing heads surrounded by bracts forming an involucre; a syngenecious androecium with secondary pollen presentation; dry fruits (achenes or cypselas) derived from an inferior ovary; and a calyx in the shape of a specialized structure called pappus.

The International Compositae Alliance

The International Compositae Alliance (TICA) is a worldwide network of scientists devoted to the study of the Compositae (or Asteraceae) family, arguably the largest vascular plant family on the Planet. TICA is the brainchild of the late Vicki Funk, who at the beginning of the XXI century first came up with the idea of creating a group to get people together in order to gain a better understanding of the phylogeny of this huge and wonderful family. Ever since then, with some highs and lows, the Alliance continued and gained momentum with the Global Compositae Database project.