Standard 11
Morphology of flowering plants
Morphology of flowering plants| flower | NCERT short note| Best biology short note | standard 11
Note 4
Flower | Types of flower|Inflorescence | parts of flower
A flower is a modified shoot
Here, the shoot apical meristem changes to floral meristem.
Internodes do not elongate and the axis gets condensed.
The apex produces different kinds of floral appendages(floral parts) laterally at successive nodes instead of leaves.
When a shoot tip transforms into a flower, it is always solitary (single flower arises).
Inflorescence
The arrangement of flowers on the floral axis is termed as inflorescence.
2 major types of inflorescences are defined- according to on whether the apex gets developed into a flower or continues to grow,
– racemose and cymose.
In racemose type of inflorescences the main axis continues to grow,
the flowers are borne laterally in an acropetal succession
I.e. new flowers are on upper side of plant and old flower are beneath them
Growth is indefinite - doesn't terminate with flower
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| Racemose Inflorescence |
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| Cymose Inflorescence |
In cymose type of inflorescence the main axis terminates in a flower
Growth is limited - definite - terminate
The flowers are borne in a basipetal order
I.e. old flower is on top of the plant, whereas new ones grow below its level
The Flower
The reproductive unit in the angiosperms.
meant for sexual reproduction.
four different kinds of whorls arranged successively on the swollen end of the stalk or pedicel, called thalamus or receptacle.
These are calyx, corolla, androecium and gynoecium.
Calyx and corolla are accessory organs, while androecium and gynoecium are reproductive organs.
In some flowers like lily, the calyx and corolla are not distinct and are termed as perianth.
Parts of flower
1- Calyx
The calyx is the outermost whorl of the flower
the members are called sepals.
Generally, sepals are green, leaf like and protect the flower in the bud stage.
The calyx may be of 2 types
gamosepalous (sepals united) or
polysepalous (sepals free)
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| Parts of flower |
2-Corolla
Corolla is composed of petals.
Petals are usually brightly coloured to attract insects for pollination.
Like calyx, corolla may also be
gamopetalous (petals united) or polypetalous (petals free).
The shape and colour of corolla vary greatly in plants.
Corolla may be tubular, bell shaped, funnel-shaped or wheel-shaped.
Aestivation:
The mode of arrangement of sepals or petals in floral bud with respect to the other members of the same whorl is known as aestivation.
The main types of aestivation are valvate, twisted, imbricate and vexillary
Valvate: sepals or petals in a whorl just touch one another at the margin, without overlapping, example: Calotropis.
Twisted: one margin of the appendage overlaps that of the next one and so on , example : china rose, lady’s finger and cotton
Imbricate: the margins of sepals or petals overlap one another but not in any particular direction , example : Cassia and gulmohur
Vexillary or Papilionaceous: there are five petals, the largest (standard) overlaps the two lateral petals (wings) which in turn overlap the two smallest anterior petals (keel) example: pea and bean flowers
3- Androecium
Androecium is composed of stamens.
Each stamen which represents the male reproductive organ
It consists of a stalk or a filament and an anther.
Each anther is usually bilobed and each lobe has two chambers, the pollen-sacs.
The pollen grains are produced in pollen-sacs.
A sterile stamen is called staminode.
Stamens of flower may be united with other members such as petals or among themselves.
When stamens are attached to the petals, they are epipetalous Example : brinjal
When stamens are attached to the perianth as in the flowers of lily - they are epiphyllous.
The stamens in a flower may either remain free (polyandrous)
or they may be united in varying degrees.
The stamens may be united into one bunch or one bundle (monoadelphous) as in china rose,
or two bundles (diadelphous) as in pea
or into more than two bundles (polyadelphous) as in citrus.
There may be a variation in the length of filaments within a flower, as in Salvia and mustard.
4- Gynoecium
Gynoecium is the female reproductive part of the flower
It is made up of one or more carpels.
A carpel consists of three parts namely
stigma, style and ovary.
Ovary is the enlarged basal part,
on ovary lies the elongated tube, the style.
The style connects the ovary to the stigma.
The stigma is usually at the tip of the style
Stigma is the receptive surface for pollen grains.
Each ovary bears one or more ovules attached to a flattened, cushion-like placenta.
Apocarpous: When more than one carpel is present, they may be free (as in lotus and rose)
Syncarpous: when carpels are fused, as in mustard and tomato. After fertilisation, the ovules develop into seeds and the ovary matures into a fruit.
Placentation: The arrangement of ovules within the ovary is known as placentation.
The placentation are of different types namely,marginal, axile, parietal, basal, central and free central.
In marginal placentation the placenta forms a ridge along the ventral suture of the ovary and the ovules are borne on this ridge forming two rows, example : pea.
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| Marginal placentation |
When the placenta is axial and the ovules are attached to it in a multilocular ovary (ovary with many chambers-locules), the placentaion is said to be axile, example : china rose, tomato and lemon.
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| Axial placentation |
In parietal placentation, the ovules develop on the inner wall of the ovary or on peripheral part. Ovary is one-chambered but it becomes two chambered due to the formation of the false septum, e.g., mustard and Argemone.
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| Perietal placentation |
When the ovules are borne on central axis and septa are absent, as in Dianthus and Primrose the placentation is called free central.
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| Free central placentation |
In basal placentation, the placenta develops at the base of ovary and a single ovule is attached to it, as in sunflower, marigold.
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| Basal placentation |
Types of flowers
>>On basis of presence of androecium and gynoecium in a flower
1. When a flower has both androecium and gynoecium, it is bisexual.
2.A flower having either only stamens or only carpels is unisexual.
>> In symmetry, the flower may be actinomorphic (radial symmetry) or zygomorphic (bilateral symmetry).
1. When a flower can be divided into two equal radial halves in any radial plane passing through the centre, it is said to be actinomorphic, e.g., mustard, datura, chilli.
2. When it can be divided into two similar halves only in one particular vertical plane, it is zygomorphic, e.g., pea, gulmohur, bean, Cassia.
3. A flower is asymmetric (irregular) if it cannot be divided into two similar halves by any vertical plane passing through the centre, as in canna.
>> on basis of number of floral parts
A flower may be trimerous, tetramerous or pentamerous when the floral appendages are in multiple of 3, 4 or 5, respectively.
>> Flowers with bracts-reduced leaf found at the base of the pedicel - are called bracteate (example- Bougainvillea) and those without bracts, ebracteate.
>> Based on the position of calyx, corolla and androecium in respect of the ovary on thalamus, the flowers are described as hypogynous, perigynous and epigynous.
1. In the hypogynous flower the gynoecium occupies the highest position while the other parts are situated below it.
The ovary in such flowers is said to be superior
e.g., mustard, china rose and brinjal.
2. If gynoecium is situated in the centre and other parts of the flower are located on the rim of the thalamus almost at the same level, it is called perigynous.
The ovary here is said to be half inferior
e.g., plum, rose, peach.
3. In epigynous flowers, the margin of thalamus grows upward enclosing the ovary completely and getting fused with it, the other parts of flower arise above the ovary.
Here, the ovary is said to be inferior as in flowers of guava and cucumber, and the ray florets of sunflower.
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Manish Mevada
Urvi Bhanushali
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