Don't be fooled: false flowers in Asteraceae

The sunflower or daisy family, Asteraceae, comprises of approximately 10% of all angiosperm species. Their inflorescences form dense flower-like structures, pseudanthia or false flowers that may combine hundreds of individual flowers into a single structure. Recent data suggest that pseudanthia are analogs of single flowers not only morphologically but also at developmental and genetic level, and cannot merely be considered as condensed inflorescences. The large meristem size provides an advantage to study basic principles of patterning as well as inflorescence diversity in this evolutionary successful family. This knowledge has also practical importance in the commercially important crops of the family.