ANTHEMIDEAE Cass.

Herbs or undershrubs, mostly aromatic, glabrous to hoary pubescent or woolly. Leaves alternate, often finely pinnate, pinnatifid, dissected or entire. Heads white, yellow or purplish green, heterogamous, radiate or homogamous, discoid, all bisexual or outer female or neuter. Involucral bracts imbricate, few to many seriate, often dry and scarious or at least the inner ones with scarious margins or tips. Receptacle naked or pubescent or hairy or with deciduous pales. Ray florets present or absent, the ligules 3-toothed or entire. Disc florets yellow, limb usually tubular. Anthers not tailed, usually obtuse at the base, and with a terminal appendage. Style branches truncate or rounded. Achenes small, often angular and truncate, compressed, sometimes winged, unbeaked. Pappus mostly absent or reduced to corona.

Mostly in the old world, principally Mediterranean and S. African; ca 50 genera and ca 1252 species, 12 genera and 66 in India.

Literature. BENTHAM, G. & J.D. HOOKER (1873). Compositae : Genera Plantarum 2: 163 - 533. HARLING, G. (1950), (1951). Embryological studies in the Compositae part. Anthemideae-Anthemidinae: Acta Horti Berg. 15: 135-168. 1950; Part II Anthemideae-Chrysantheminae: ibid 16: 1 - 56. 1951. SOLBRIG, O.T. (1963). the Tribes of Compositae in S.E. United States J. Arn. Arb. 44: 444 - 445. WODE HOUSE, R.P. (1926). Pollen grain morphology in the classification of the Anthemideae. Bull. Torr. Bot. Club. 53: 479 - 485.

Notes. The tribe is fairly uniform and difficult to separate into well marked subtribes. The strongly scented, usually finely dissected, pinnately parted or atleast pinnatisect leaves, the dry and scarious involucral bracts and the truncate nature of the style branches of the disc florets which are more constant in their shape than in the majority of the tribes of Compositae, are the characteristic features.

Anthemideae are largely insect pollinated but some notably Artemisia is wind pollinated. Great deal of variation in the number and size of the pollen grains exists between wind and insect pollinated species.

KEY TO THE GENERA

1a. Receptacle palcaceous; heads usually rayed

2

b. Receptacle naked or with fimbriate pits; heads rayed or disciform

3

2a. Heads corymbose; achenes margined.

1. Achillea

b. Heads solitary peduncled: achenes 4-5 angled or many ribbed

2. Anthemis

3a. Heads rayed

4

b. Heads disciform

7

4a. Diffuse or tufted herbs; peduncles short; achenes 5-angled

12. Waldheimia

b. Usually erecl herbs; peduncles long; achenes angled or ribbed

5

5a. Annual herbs; achenes ventrally 3-5-ribbed, dorsally many ribbed or smooth

8. Matricaria

b. Perennial herbs; achenes ribbed or angled

6

6a. Achenes 3-many ribbed; vallecular secretary canals or epicarpic mucilaginous cells absent

5. Chrysanthemum

b. Achenes usually with 10-prominent ribs; vallecular secretary canals or epicarpic mucilaginous cells present

7. Leucanthemum

7a. Heads many, racemose, panicled or corymbose

8

b. Heads single

9

8a. Heads racemose or panicled; involucral bract. few seriate

3. Artemisia

b. Heads in corymbs, involucral bracts many seriate

11. Tanacetum

9a. Involucral bracts many seriate, incurvcd in fruits

10. Sphaeromorphaea

b. Involucral bracts sub 2-seriate. not incurvcd in fruits

10

10a. Stoloniferous; heads sessile; corolla of outer florets wanting;

9. Soliva

b. Non stoloniferous; heads sessile or peduncled; corolla of outer florets usually present

11

11a. Heads sessile or subsessile; involucral bracts 2-seriate; leaves toothed or lobed

4. Centipeda

b. Heads peduncled; involucral bracts sub-2-seriate; leaves pinnatifid or pinnatisect

6. Cotula

List of Lower Taxa