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A Flower

Flowers are the reproductive structures of flowering plants, consisting of vegetative organs like sepals and petals, and reproductive organs that produce gametophytes. They rely on pollinators for reproduction, employing various strategies to attract them, and can undergo self-pollination or cross-pollination. The morphology of flowers includes non-reproductive parts (calyx and corolla) and reproductive parts (androecium and gynoecium), with each part serving specific functions in the plant's life cycle.

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8 views2 pages

A Flower

Flowers are the reproductive structures of flowering plants, consisting of vegetative organs like sepals and petals, and reproductive organs that produce gametophytes. They rely on pollinators for reproduction, employing various strategies to attract them, and can undergo self-pollination or cross-pollination. The morphology of flowers includes non-reproductive parts (calyx and corolla) and reproductive parts (androecium and gynoecium), with each part serving specific functions in the plant's life cycle.

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A flower, also known as a bloom or blossom,[1] is the reproductive structure found in

flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). Flowers consist of a


combination of vegetative organs – sepals that enclose and protect the developing
flower. Petals attract pollinators, and reproductive organs that produce gametophytes,
which in flowering plants produce gametes. The male gametophytes, which produce
sperm, are enclosed within pollen grains produced in the anthers. The female
gametophytes are contained within the ovules produced in the ovary.[2][3] In some
plants, multiple flowers occur singly on a pedicel (flower stalk), and some are
arranged in a group (inflorescence) on a peduncle (inflorescence stalk).[2]

Most flowering plants depend on animals, such as bees, moths, and butterflies, to
transfer their pollen between different flowers, and have evolved to attract these
pollinators by various strategies, including brightly colored, large petals with patterns
only visible to under ultraviolet light, attractive scents, and the production of nectar, a
food source for pollinators.[4][2] In this way, many flowering plants have co-evolved
with pollinators to be mutually dependent on services they provide to one another—in
the plant's case, a means of reproduction; in the pollinator's case, a source of food.[5]

When pollen from the anther of a flower is transferred to the stigma to another, it is
called pollination. Some flowers may self-pollinate, producing seed using pollen from
a different flower of the same plant, but others have mechanisms to prevent self-
pollination and rely on cross-pollination, when pollen is transferred from the anther of
one flower to the stigma of another flower on a different individual of the same
species. Self-pollination happens in flowers where the stamen and carpel mature at the
same time, and are positioned so that the pollen can land on the flower's stigma. This
pollination does not require an investment from the plant to provide nectar and pollen
as food for pollinators.[6] Some flowers produce diaspores without fertilization
(parthenocarpy).[7] After fertilization, the ovary of the flower develops into fruit
containing seeds.[2]

Flowers have long been appreciated for their beauty and pleasant scents, and also hold
cultural significance as religious, ritual, or symbolic objects, or sources of medicine
and food.

Etymology Flower is from the Middle English flour, which referred to both the
ground grain and the reproductive structure in plants, before splitting off in the 17th
century. It comes originally from the Latin name of the Italian goddess of flowers,
Flora. The early word for flower in English was blossom,[8] though it now refers to
flowers only of fruit trees.[9]

Morphology

Diagram of flower parts. Main article: Floral morphology

The morphology of a flower, or its form and structure,[10] can be considered in two
parts: the vegetative part, consisting of non-reproductive structures such as petals; and
the reproductive or sexual parts. A stereotypical flower is made up of four kinds of
structures arranged in whorls around the tip of a short stalk or axis, called a
receptacle.[11][2] The four main whorls (starting from the base of the flower or
lowest node and working upwards) are the calyx, corolla, androecium, and
gynoecium. Together the calyx and corolla make up the non-reproductive part of the
flower called the perianth, and in monocotyledons, may not be differentiated. If this is
the case, then they are described as tepals.[2][12]

Perianth Main article: Perianth Calyx The sepals, collectively called the calyx, are
modified leaves that occur on the outermost whorl of the flower.[2] They are leaf-like,
in that they have a broad base, stomata and chlorophyll and may have stipules. Sepals
are often waxy and tough, and grow quickly to protect the flower as it develops.[13]
[14] They may be deciduous, but will more commonly grow on to assist in fruit
dispersal. If the calyx is fused it is called gamosepalous.[13]

Corolla The petals, collectively called corolla, are almost or completely fiberless leaf-
like structures that form the innermost whorl of the perianth. They are often delicate
and thin and are usually colored, shaped, or scented to encourage pollination.[2][15]
Although similar to leaves in shape, they are more comparable to stamens in that they
form almost simultaneously with one another, but their subsequent growth is delayed.
If the corolla is fused together it is called sympetalous.[16] In monocotyledonous
flowers (e.g., Lilium sp.), petals and sepals are indistinguishable and are individually
called tepals. Petals also tend to have patterns only visible under ultraviolet light,
which are visible to pollinators but not to humans.[2]

Reproductive Main article: Plant reproductive morphology

Reproductive parts of easter lily (Lilium longiflorum). 1. Stigma, 2. Style, 3. Stamens,


4. Filament, 5. Petal Androecium The androecium, consisting of stamens, is the whorl
of pollen-producing male parts. Stamens consist typically of an anther, made up of
four pollen sacs arranged in two thecae, connected to a filament, or stalk.[2] The
anther contains microsporocytes which become pollen, the male gametophyte, after
undergoing meiosis. Although they exhibit the widest variation among floral organs,
the androecium is usually confined just to one whorl and to two whorls only in rare
cases. Stamens range in number, size, shape, orientation, and in their point of
connection to the flower.[15][16]

In general, there is only one type of stamen, but there are plant species where the
flowers have two types; a "normal" one and one with anthers that produce sterile
pollen meant to attract pollinators.[17]

Gynoecium The gynoecium, consisting of one or more carpels, is the female part of
the flower found on the innermost whorl. Each carpel consists of a stigma, which
receives pollen, a style, which acts as a stalk, and an ovary, which contains the ovules.
[2] Carpels may occur in one to several whorls, and when fused are often described as
a pistil. Inside the ovary, the ovules are attached to the placenta by structures called
funiculi.[18][19]

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