Synantherology
Encyclopedia
Synantherology is the study of the plant family Asteraceae
Asteraceae
The Asteraceae or Compositae , is an exceedingly large and widespread family of vascular plants. The group has more than 22,750 currently accepted species, spread across 1620 genera and 12 subfamilies...

 (also called Compositae). The name of the field refers to the fused anthers possessed by members of the family, and recalls an old French name, synantherées, for the family.

Although many of the plants of the Asteraceae were described for the European community at least as long ago as Theophrastus
Theophrastus
Theophrastus , a Greek native of Eresos in Lesbos, was the successor to Aristotle in the Peripatetic school. He came to Athens at a young age, and initially studied in Plato's school. After Plato's death he attached himself to Aristotle. Aristotle bequeathed to Theophrastus his writings, and...

, an organization of the family into tribe
Tribe (biology)
In biology, a tribe is a taxonomic rank between family and genus. It is sometimes subdivided into subtribes.Some examples include the tribes: Canini, Acalypheae, Hominini, Bombini, and Antidesmeae.-See also:* Biological classification* Rank...

s, which remained largely stable throughout the 20th century, was published in 1873 by George Bentham
George Bentham
George Bentham CMG FRS was an English botanist, characterized by Duane Isely as "the premier systematic botanist of the nineteenth century".- Formative years :...

.

In a 1970 article titled "The New Synantherology", Harold E. Robinson
Harold E. Robinson
Harold Ernest Robinson is an eminent botanist and an entomologist.-Career:Dr. Robinson's systematic knowledge encompasses many groups of plants and even some insects. But his real specialty is the sunflower family and the bryophytes...

 advocated greater attention to microstructures (studied with the compound light microscope). He was not the first, as Alexandre de Cassini
Alexandre de Cassini
Count Alexandre Henri Gabriel de Cassini was a French botanist and naturalist, who specialised in the sunflower family ....

 and others of the 19th century split species based on fine distinctions of microstructure, a tendency which Bentham found excessive.

Noted United States synantherologists include:
  • T. M. Barkley
  • V. A. Funk
  • D. J. Keil
  • R. M. King
  • Harold E. Robinson
    Harold E. Robinson
    Harold Ernest Robinson is an eminent botanist and an entomologist.-Career:Dr. Robinson's systematic knowledge encompasses many groups of plants and even some insects. But his real specialty is the sunflower family and the bryophytes...

  • J. A. Soule
  • T. F. Steussy
  • Billie Lee Turner Sr.
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