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Where do Asteraceae plants grow around the world?
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Asteraceae
The flowering head of a sunflower (Helianthus annuus) is formed of yellow, petal-like ray flowers and a brown center of minute disk flowers.
Plants in the Asteraceae family are distributed throughout the world and occur in nearly every terrestrial habitat. While they are most commonly found as herbs in temperate and subtropical regions, they have successfully adapted to a wide variety of environments.12
Their global presence includes:
- Diverse Terrestrial Habitats: Members of the family are found in locations ranging from sand dunes, cliff crevices, and talus slopes to fields and disturbed sites near human habitations. A few species are also aquatic.2
- Arid and Harsh Environments: Asteraceae is the most diverse plant family in deserts globally, showing particular prominence in the deserts of Australia, southern Africa, the Middle East, and North America. They are also known to thrive in soils with challenging conditions, such as those that are alkaline, gypsiferous, or seleniferous.32
- Tundra Ecosystems: In Arctic and alpine tundra, these plants are common in areas such as the sands and gravels of riverbanks.4
In many temperate regions, Asteraceae accounts for more than 10 percent of all flowering plant species.2