Indonesia Conference Directory

Asteraceae, also known as the Sunflower Family, is one of the largest and successful flowering plant species beside Orchids and Legume families. This family is often considered taxonomically difficult, mainly because of its vast numbers and cosmopolitan distribution. This family also displays floral diversity in tribes, hence the study was conducted to compare the stages of Asteraceae inflorescences (capitulum) and fruit structures of six species (Blumea lacera, Cyanthillium cinereum, Mikania micrantha, Emilia sonchifolia, Bidens pilosa, and Porophyllum ruderale) that belong to Inuleae, Vernonieae, Eupatoriae, Senecioneae, Coreopsideae, and Tageteae respectively. The inflorescences and fruit were observed using Dinolite devices and Dinocapture 2.0 applications. The results indicate that there are variations in the flower development stage, with a range of stages, 10-19. The flowering stage divided into four, namely pre-anthesis (the inflorescence is still in the bud form and green); beginning of anthesis (the buds start to open, and the corolla begins to appear); anthesis (marked with a fully open corolla); and senescence (characterized by a change in the corolla into brown and dry out). The six species observed have achene (cypsela) fruit with a size range of 3.8 -18.3 mm with distribution accessories. All the five species studied have fruit accessories in the form of pappus, except for Bidens pilosa. The fruit pappus in five species have different sizes in the range of 2.8 – 10.3 mm - the most extended fruit pappus belong to Porophyllum ruderale.