Composite
an order of plants, founded in 1751 by Linnæus, and adopted in 1763 by Adanson. It contains many plants separated from others by characters so obvious that it still stands with essentially the same limits as those assigned it in the infancy of botany. Lindley altered the name of the order to Asteraceæ. De Candolle, Lindley, etc., divided it thus-Sub-order 1, Tubuli' floræ: Tribe (1) Vernoniacex, (2) Eupatoriacex, (3) Asterioidex, (4) ,Senecioidex, (5) Cynarex. Sub-order 2, Labiatiflora: Tribe (1) Mutisiaceæ, (2) Nassauviacea. Sub-order 3, Liguli floræ: Tribe Cichoraceae. The eight tribes now mentioned were first properly discriminated by Lessing, who showed that each had a different stigma.