In the APG II system (2003) for the classification of flowering plants, the name asterids refers to a clade (a monophyletic group).

Most of the taxa belonging to this clade had been referred to the Asteridae in the Cronquist system (1981) and to the Sympetalae in earlier systems.^{[citation needed]} The name asterids (plural, not necessarily capitalized) is presumably inspired by the earlier botanical name but in itself is intended to be the name of a clade rather than a formal ranked name, in the sense of the ICBN. This clade is one of the two most speciose groups of eudicots, the other being the rosids. It consists of:

Note : “ + ....” = optional as a segregate of the preceding family.