A member of the Compositae family, now called Asteraceae; a plant with small flowers arranged in dense clusters.
From Latin compositus, 'composite,' because these plants were recognized as having a composite structure of many tiny flowers. Scientific Latin used to be the standard naming system.
Compositae is literally the family name that scientists gave to one of Earth's largest plant families (23,000+ species!) because of their composite flower structure—it's so successful that 1 in every 10 flowering plants belongs to it!
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