Herbs, subshrubs, or shrubs, rarely trees or climbers, bisexual, monoecious, or sometimes dioecious, many with laticiferous cells or canals and/or resinous ducts. Leaves often in a basal rosette; cauline leaves usually alternate, more rarely (in China) opposite or whorled, sessile or petiolate, without stipules; petiole sometimes auriculate at base; leaf blade entire to variously lobed or divided. Florets bisexual (perfect), female (pistillate), or functionally male (functionally staminate), solitary or few to many enclosed in an involucre of 1- to many-seriate phyllaries (involucral bracts) to form a capitulum; calyculus of outer bracts sometimes present and often differing markedly from phyllaries. Capitula solitary or few to many arranged in variously formed synflorescences, homogamous or heterogamous, discoid, disciform, radiate, subradiate, radiant, or ligulate; receptacle usually flattened, sometimes slightly concave or convex, rarely conical, smooth or alveolate, paleate (scaly) or epaleate, with bristles, scales, hairs, or naked. Corolla (3-) 5-merous, gamopetalous, tubular or tubular-filiform, and regular, bilabiate, radiate, or ligulate. Stamens (4 or)5, inserted within corolla tube; filaments adnate to proximal part of corolla; anthers basifixed or dorsifixed, usually coalescent into a tube, base caudate or not, apex with (rarely without) a sterile, ovate or lanceolate appendage; pollen grains usually tricolporate, echinate or sometimes lophate or spinulate, often caveate. Style apically bifid (rarely entire); style branches variously shaped, with or without an apical appendage, hairs, or papillae. Ovary inferior, 1-loculed; ovule 1, basal, anatropous. Fruit an achene (cypsela). Pappus consisting of 1 to many rows of scales or bristles, or absent. Seed erect; endosperm scanty; embryo straight.

Taxonomic discussion on the Asteraceae is included under the relevant tribes. The following notes apply to the whole family. Modes of reproduction in the Chinese Asteraceae are known only fragmentarily. As regards the world diversity of the family, only about 12% of genera have been studied using cytoembryology to identify the reproduction system. In 3%, agamospermy was found to occur. Probably the most common reproduction system is allogamy with a sporophytic self-incompatibility; occasional selfing is also possible (stigma ageing or mentor effect). More or less obligate autogamy is relatively rare. Other uncommon reproduction systems include gynodioecy, a very rare dioecy (with heterogametic females). Asexual reproduction is a widespread phenomenon in the Asteraceae, with a wide range of mechanisms. In addition to the rare adventitious embryony, there are common types of autonomous apomixis, agamospermy (apospory, diplospory) associated with various forms of embryogenesis (parthenogenesis, apogamety). All the types of reproduction are to be considered in the evaluation of population variation and for taxonomic conclusions because the prevailing type of reproduction substantially influences the variation limits of taxa.

Ling Yong, Chen Yi-ling, Shih Chu, Chen Feng-hwai, Chang Chao-chien, Tseng Yong-qian, Hu Chi-ming & Huang Xiu-lan. 1979. Compositae (2): Inuleae-[Heliantheae]-Helenieae. In: Ling Yong, ed., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 75: i-xviii, 1-422; Shih Chu & Fu Gou-xun. 1983. Compositae (3): Anthemideae [1]. In: Ling Yong & Shih Chu, eds., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 76(1): i-viii, 1-149; Ling Yong, Chen Yi-ling & Shih Chu. 1985. Compositae (1): Carduoideae Kitam.: Vernonieae-[Eupatorieae]-Astereae. In: Ling Yong & Chen Yi-ling, eds., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 74: i-xiv, 1-388; Shih Chu. 1987. Compositae (7): Echinopeae ["Echinopsideae"], Cynareae. In: Ling Yong & Shih Chu, eds., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 78(1): i-ix, [t.] 1-7, 1-226; Liu Shang-wu. 1989. Compositae (4): Senecioneae: Senecioninae [Farfugium, Ligularia, Cremanthodium]. In: Ling Yong & Liu Shang-wu, eds., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 77(2): i-vii, 1-188; Ling Yourun (= Ling Yeou-ruenn). 1991. Compositae (3): Anthemideae (2). In: Ling Yong & Ling Yourun (= Ling Yeou-ruenn), eds., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 76(2): i-xii, 1-316; Tseng Yung-chien. 1996. Compositae (9): Mutisieae. In: Tseng Yung-chien, ed., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 79: i-iv, 1-113; Shih Chu. 1997. Compositae (10): Cichorioideae: Lactuceae. In: Ling Yong & Shih Chu, eds., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 80(1): i-xiv, 1-342; Chen Yiling. 1999. Compositae (5): Senecioneae, Calenduleae. In: Chen Yiling, ed., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 77(1): i-xiii, 1-369; Ge Xuejun, Ling Yeouruenn & Zhai Datong. 1999. Compositae (11): Cichorieae: Taraxacum. In: Ling Yeouruenn & Ge Xuejun, eds., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 80(2): i-iv, 1-94; Shih Chu & Jin Shuying. 1999. Compositae (8): Cynareae [Saussurea]. In: Chen Yiling & Shih Chu, eds., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 78(2): i-x, 1-243.

Between 1,600 and 1,700 genera and ca. 24,000 species: cosmopolitan (except Antarctica); 15 tribes (one introduced), 248 genera (18 endemic, 49 introduced), and 2,336 species (1,145 endemic, 109 introduced) in China.

(Authors: Shi Zhu (石铸 Shih Chu), Chen Yilin (陈艺林 Chen Yi-ling), Chen Yousheng (陈又生), Lin Yourun (林有润 Ling Yeou-ruenn, Ling Yuou-ruen), Liu Shangwu (刘尚武), Ge Xuejun (葛学军), Gao Tiangang (高天刚), Zhu Shixin (朱世新), Liu Ying (刘莹), Yang Qiner (杨亲二); Christopher J. Humphries, Eckhard von Raab-Straube, Michael G. Gilbert, Bertil Nordenstam, Norbert Kilian, Luc Brouillet, Irina D. Illarionova, D. J. Nicholas Hind, Charles Jeffrey, Randall J. Bayer, Jan Kirschner, Werner Greuter, Arne A. Anderberg, John C. Semple, Jan ěp嫕ek, Susana Edith Freire, Ludwig Martins, Hiroshige Koyama, Takayuki Kawahara, Leszek Vincent, Alexander P. Sukhorukov, Evgeny V. Mavrodiev, Gter Gottschlich)