ae , ▁C ich orio ide ae , ▁Card uo ide ae ▁and ▁Mut is io ide ae ▁contain ▁ 9 9 % ▁of ▁the ▁species ▁divers ity ▁of ▁the ▁whole ▁family ▁( appro xim ately ▁ 7 0 %, ▁ 1 4 %, ▁ 1 1 % ▁and ▁ 3 % ▁respectively ). ▁ ▁Because ▁of ▁the ▁morph ological ▁complexity ▁exhib ited ▁by ▁this ▁family , ▁agree ing ▁on ▁generic ▁circ ums cri ptions ▁has ▁often ▁been ▁difficult ▁for ▁tax onom ists . ▁As ▁a ▁result , ▁several ▁of ▁these ▁gener a ▁have ▁required ▁multiple ▁revis ions . ▁ ▁Character istics ▁ ▁M embers ▁of ▁the ▁A ster aceae ▁are ▁mostly ▁her b ace ous ▁plants , ▁but ▁some ▁shr ubs , ▁clim bers ▁and ▁trees ▁( such ▁as ▁L ach an odes ▁ar b ore a ) ▁do ▁exist . ▁They ▁are ▁generally ▁easy ▁to ▁distinguish ▁from ▁other ▁plants , ▁mainly ▁because ▁of ▁their ▁characteristic ▁infl ores c ence ▁and ▁other ▁shared ▁characteristics . ▁However , ▁determ ining ▁gener a ▁and ▁species ▁of ▁some ▁groups ▁such ▁as ▁H iera ci um ▁is ▁not or iously ▁difficult ▁( see ▁" dam ned ▁yellow ▁composite " ▁for ▁example ). ▁ ▁Ro ots ▁and ▁st ems ▁ ▁M embers ▁of ▁the ▁A ster aceae ▁generally ▁produce ▁tap ro ots , ▁but ▁sometimes ▁they ▁possess ▁f ibr ous ▁root ▁systems . ▁St ems ▁are ▁her b ace ous ▁aer ial ▁branch ed ▁cyl ind rical ▁with ▁g land ular ▁hair s ▁generally ▁ere ct ▁but