The name of this family is derived from the genus Aster. An older, but still valid name -- Compositae -- refers to the characteristic inflorescence
which comprises two types of flowers, ray and disk, both of which are complete flowers in themselves. Daisies and asters are typical composites,
with numerous ray flowers, each resembling a single petal, surrounding a button, or disk. Some composites have only one type of flower; eg,
dandelions and many thistles have only ray flowers; others, eg, rosilla, have only disk flowers.

According to current counts the family comprises more than 1,600 genera and 23,000 species. Only family Orchidaceae has more species, not
that we see many of those. The largest composite genera are Senecio (1,500 species), Vernonia (1,000), Cousinia (600) and Centaurea (600).

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