Carduoideae is the

thistle Thistle is the common name of a group of flowering plants characterised by leaves with sharp prickles on the margins, mostly in the family Asteraceae. Prickles can also occur all over the planton the stem and on the flat parts of the leaves. ...

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

of the

Asteraceae The family Asteraceae, alternatively Compositae, consists of over 32,000 known species of flowering plants in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. Commonly referred to as the aster, daisy, composite, or sunflower family, Compositae w ...

, or sunflower family, of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

s. It comprises a number of tribes in various circumscriptions of the family, in addition to the

Cynareae The Cardueae are a tribe of flowering plants in the daisy family (Asteraceae) and the subfamily Carduoideae. Most of them are commonly known as thistles; four of the best known genera are '' Carduus'', '' Cynara'' (containing the widely eaten ar ...

Takhtajan Armen Leonovich Takhtajan or Takhtajian ( hy, Արմեն Լևոնի Թախտաջյան; russian: Армен Леонович Тахтаджян; surname also transliterated Takhtadjan, Takhtadzhi︠a︡n or Takhtadzhian, pronounced takh-tuh-JA ...

, according to Reveal, includes 10 tribes in addition to the

: the Arctotideae, the Barnadesieae, the Carlineae, the

Cichorieae The Cichorieae (also called Lactuceae) are a tribe in the plant family Asteraceae that includes 93 genera, more than 1,600 sexually reproductive species and more than 7,000 Apomixis, apomictic species. They are found primarily in temperate region ...

, the Echinopseae, the Eremothamneae, the Gundelieae, the

Liabeae Liabeae is a tribe in the plant family Asteraceae. It is endemic to the Neotropics, where it is most diverse in the northern and central Andes.Dillon, M. O., et alChapter 27: Liabeae.In: Funk, V. A., et al. (eds.) ''Systematics, Evolution, and Bi ...

, the

Mutisieae Mutisieae is a tribe of the family Asteraceae, subfamily Mutisioideae. Genera Mutisieae genera recognized by the Global Compositae Database as of June 2022: *''Adenocaulon'' *'' Amblysperma'' *''Brachyclados'' *''Chaetanthera'' *''Chaptali ...

, and the

Vernonieae Vernonieae is a tribe of about 1300 species of plants in the aster family. They are mostly found in the tropics and warmer temperate areas, both in the Americas and the Old World. They are mostly herbaceous plants or shrubs, although there is a ...

. Of these 11, Thorne agrees with seven in his eight-tribe taxonomy of the Carduoideae, placing the tribes Cardueae (Cynareae), plus Arctotideae, Cichorieae, Eremothamneae, Liabeae, Mutisieae, and Vernonieaes in the subfamily, plus the Tarchonantheae. The Panero and Funk classification of 2002 (a

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

classification based upon chloroplast genes) places just three tribes in the subfamily: the

, plus the Dicomeae (created by Panero and Funk's paper, consisting of ''

Dicoma ''Dicoma'' is a genus of flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') ...

'', ''

Erythrocephalum ''Erythrocephalum'' is a genus of African flowering plants in the daisy family The family Asteraceae, alternatively Compositae, consists of over 32,000 known species of flowering plants in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. Comm ...

'', ''

Gladiopappus ''Gladiopappus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the daisy family. ;Species There is only one known species, '' Gladiopappus vernonioides'', endemic to Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagasca ...

'', ''

Macledium ''Macledium'' is a genus of flowering plants in the daisy family. Both ''Macledium'' and ''Dicoma ''Dicoma'' is a genus of flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), comm ...

'', ''

Cloiselia ''Cloiselia'' is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Asteraceae The family Asteraceae, alternatively Compositae, consists of over 32,000 known species of flowering plants in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. Co ...

'', '' Pasaccardoa'', and ''

Pleiotaxis ''Pleiotaxis'' is a genus of African plants in the gerbera tribe within the daisy family The family Asteraceae, alternatively Compositae, consists of over 32,000 known species of flowering plants in over 1,900 genera within the order Aster ...

''), and the Tarchonantheae ('' Tarchonanthus'' plus ''

Brachylaena ''Brachylaena'' is a genus of flowering plants in the aster family, Asteraceae. Several are endemic to Madagascar, and the others are distributed in mainland Africa, especially the southern regions.Beentje, H. J. (2000)The genus ''Brachylaena'' ( ...

''). The genus ''

Oldenburgia ''Oldenburgia'' is a genus of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It contains four accepted species, including the commonly cultivated, near-endangered species ''Oldenburgia grandis'' (Thunb.) Baill. (=''Oldenburgia arbuscula'' DC.); the Wi ...

'' may be within this subfamily but the data on this is inconclusive. The Takhtajan system divides the Asteraceae into only two subfamilies, the Asteroideae in addition to the Carduoideae, while Thorne adds the basal, monophyletic subfamily, the Barnadesioideae. The recent phylogeny of Panero and Funk divides the Asteraceae into 11 subfamilies.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q134508 Asterales subfamilies