The Cichorieae (also called Lactuceae) are a tribe in the plant family
Asteraceae
Asteraceae () is a large family (biology), family of flowering plants that consists of over 32,000 known species in over 1,900 genera within the Order (biology), order Asterales. The number of species in Asteraceae is rivaled only by the Orchi ...
that includes 93 genera, more than 1,600 sexually reproductive species and more than 7,000
apomictic
In botany, apomixis is asexual reproduction, asexual development of seed or embryo without Fertilisation, fertilization. However, other definitions include replacement of the seed by a plantlet or replacement of the flower by bulbils.
Apomictic ...
species. They are found primarily in temperate regions of the Eastern Hemisphere. Cichorieae all have milky latex and flowerheads that only contain one type of
floret
This glossary of botanical terms is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to botany and plants in general. Terms of plant morphology are included here as well as at the more specific Glossary of plant morphology and Glossary ...
Taraxacum
''Taraxacum'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, which consists of species commonly known as dandelions. The scientific and hobby study of the genus is known as taraxacology. The genus has a near-cosmopolitan distribu ...
'' (Crepidinae subtribe) with about 1,600 apomictic species, '' Hieracium'' with about 770 sexually reproducing and 5,200 apomictic species, and '' Pilosella'' with 110 sexually reproducing and 700 apomictic species (both Hieraciinae). Well-known members include
lettuce
Lettuce (''Lactuca sativa'') is an annual plant of the family Asteraceae mostly grown as a leaf vegetable. The leaves are most often used raw in Green salad, green salads, although lettuce is also seen in other kinds of food, such as sandwiche ...
herbaceous
Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials.
Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous"
The fourth edition of ...
,
perennial
In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...
, short-lived or
annual plant
An annual plant is a plant that completes its life cycle, from germination to the production of seeds, within one growing season, and then dies. Globally, 6% of all plant species and 15% of herbaceous plants (excluding trees and shrubs) are ...
s, rarely
subshrub
A subshrub (Latin ''suffrutex'') or undershrub is either a small shrub (e.g. prostrate shrubs) or a perennial that is largely herbaceous but slightly woody at the base (e.g. garden pink and florist's chrysanthemum). The term is often interch ...
s,
shrub
A shrub or bush is a small to medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees by their multiple ...
s or
vine
A vine is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas, or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themselves, for instance, when used in wicker work.Jackson; Benjamin; Da ...
s. All Cichorieae-species have latex canals in both the roots, stems and leaves, and this occurs to be a unique character among the Asteraceae, although latex as such occurs rather widespread in this family. The leaves are in a rosette or alternately set along the stem, but this is the dominant situation in the Asteraceae. The only exception in the Cichorieae are the opposite lower leaves of '' Shinnersoseris''. Traditionally, the Cichorieae consisted of taxa with flowerheads only containing
bisexual
Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior toward both males and females. It may also be defined as the attraction to more than one gender, to people of both the same and different gender, or the attraction t ...
ligulate florets (having a strap-shaped corolla with five teeth at its tip), a rare character that is further present only in the genera '' Catamixis'', '' Glossarion'', '' Hyaloseris'' ( Mutisieae), and '' Fitchia'' ( Heliantheae). However, recently the genera ''Gundelia'' and ''Warionia'' have been included in the Cichorieae, and those two genera have heads containing only disk flowers.
Taxonomy
In his ''Elemens de botanique ou methode pour connoître les plantes'' of 1694,
Joseph Pitton de Tournefort
Joseph Pitton de Tournefort (5 June 165628 December 1708) was a French botanist, notable as the first to make a clear definition of the concept of genus for plants. Botanist Charles Plumier was his pupil and accompanied him on his voyages.
Li ...
first described this group as a taxonomic unit, calling it the "13th class of the plant kingdom". He only assigned
taxa
In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; : taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular name and ...
to it that are still regarded part of the Cichorieae today. Sébastien Vaillant gave this group the name "Cichoracées" in 1723. Since the name predates the start of the Linnean nomenclature in 1753, it is not valid, but
Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
Jean-Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet, chevalier de Lamarck (1 August 1744 – 18 December 1829), often known simply as Lamarck (; ), was a French naturalist, biologist, academic, and soldier. He was an early proponent of the idea that biologi ...
and
Augustin Pyramus de Candolle
Augustin Pyramus (or Pyrame) de Candolle (, , ; 4 February 17789 September 1841) was a Swiss people, Swiss botany, botanist. René Louiche Desfontaines launched de Candolle's botanical career by recommending him at a herbarium. Within a couple ...
used the name Cichorieae in the ''Synopsis Plantarium in Flora Gallica Descriptarum'', published in 1806. The name Lactuceae that was cioned by Henri Cassini in 1819, comprises the same group of taxa and is thus a
synonym
A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...
. Obviously, over the centuries since the group was first identified, numerous new taxa have been described that are now included in the Cichorieae, and the group has been divided in different subgroups using various morphological character states by authors such as Cassini,
David Don
David Don (21 December 1799 – 15 December 1841) was a Scottish botanist.
Biography
David Don was born on 21 December 1799 at Doo Hillock, Forfar, Angus, Scotland to Caroline Clementina Stuart, and her husband George Don of Forfar. His olde ...
George Bentham
George Bentham (22 September 1800 – 10 September 1884) was an English botanist, described by the weed botanist Duane Isely as "the premier systematic botanist of the nineteenth century". Born into a distinguished family, he initially studie ...
and
Karl August Otto Hoffmann
Karl August Otto Hoffmann (25 October 1853 in Beeskow – 11 September 1909) was a German botanist and a high school teacher in Berlin. Author of ''Sertum plantarum madagascariensium'', the genus ''Hoffmanniella'' in the family (biology), famil ...
.
Phylogeny
Genetic analysis has increased the insight in the phylogenetic relationships between the Cichorieae. The following trees together represent those insights.
Cicerbita
''Cicerbita'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, native to Asia and Europe. They are known commonly as blue sow thistles.
Microseris
''Microseris'' is a genus of plants in the tribe Cichorieae within the family Asteraceae, plants that often called composites. They are native to North America, South America, Australia, and New Zealand.
Plants in the genus can either be annua ...
Nothocalais
''Nothocalais'' is a genus of North American flowering plants in the tribe Cichorieae within the family Asteraceae. There are known generally as false dandelions or false agoseris.
As of 2023 all four of these species are classified in ''Nothoc ...
Takhtajaniantha
''Takhtajaniantha'' is a genus of flowering plants in the tribe Cichorieae within the family Asteraceae, widespread across central Asia, Middle east and eastern Europe.Nazarova, Estella A. 1990. Biologicheskii Zhurnal Armenii 43: 179–183
The ...
''
* ''
Taraxacum
''Taraxacum'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, which consists of species commonly known as dandelions. The scientific and hobby study of the genus is known as taraxacology. The genus has a near-cosmopolitan distribu ...