Welcome to the hub for the development of a virtual key to the Compositae; currently underway is Phase I: The United States. In addition to the key, this site has a list of characters used in the key, a glossary with definitions of the characters, phylogenies, and many pdfs that you may find useful.
Phase I covers 2,500 species; approximately 1/10 of the Compositae. We hope this beginning phase will act as the starting point for the development of a global key to the family. To achieve this larger goal widespread collaboration will be needed and anyone who is interested is welcome to participate. [How can I participate?]
At this stage, the most important activity to attain these goals is to arrive to a comprehensive list of characters and their states. Please check out our current list of characters and send us your comments.
current list of characters and states (May, 2010) | list of characters
