General features

The broad range of variation in the morphology and structure of nonreproductive (vegetative) organs within the angiosperms has been outlined above. There is a similarly broad range in the morphology and structure of the reproductive organs of the plant.

Many vegetative buds sooner or later become flower buds. Flower buds are modified leaves borne on a short axis with very short internodes and no axillary buds. The floral axis has determinate growth, in that at some point it ceases to grow.

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Flowers, the reproductive tissues of the plant, contain the male and/or female organs. They may terminate short lateral branches or the main axis or both. Flowers may be borne singly (as in the daffodil and Magnolia) or in clusters called inflorescences (e.g., bromeliads, snapdragons, and sunflowers). Fruits are derived from the floral parts of the angiospermous plant.

A complete flower is composed of four organs attached to the floral stalk by a receptacle (Figure 11). From the base of the receptacle upward these four organs are the sepals, petals, stamens, and carpels. In eudicots the organs are generally grouped in multiples of four or five (rarely in threes), and in monocots they are grouped in multiples of three.

The sepals, the outermost layer, are usually green, enclose the flower bud, and collectively are called the calyx. Petals are the next layer of floral appendages internal to the calyx; they are generally brightly coloured and collectively are called the corolla. The calyx and corolla together compose the perianth. The sepals and petals are accessory parts or sterile appendages; though they protect the flower buds and attract pollinators, they are not directly involved with sexual reproduction. When the colour and appearance of sepals and petals are similar, as in the tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) and Easter lily (Lilium longiflorum), the perianth is said to be composed of tepals.

Internal to the corolla are the stamens, spore-producing structures (microsporophylls) that are collectively called the androecium. In most angiosperms, the stamens consist of a slender stalk (the filament) that bears the anther (and pollen sacs), within which the pollen is formed. Small secretory structures called nectaries are often found at the base of the stamens and provide food rewards for pollinators. In some cases the nectaries coalesce into a nectary or staminal disc. In many cases the staminal disc forms when a whorl of stamens is reduced into a nectiferous disc, and in other cases the staminal disc is actually derived from nectary-producing tissue of the receptacle.

At the centre of the flower are the carpels, collectively called the gynoecium. Carpels are megasporophylls that enclose one or more ovules, each with an egg. After fertilization, the ovule matures into a seed, and the carpel matures into a fruit. Carpels, and thus fruit, are unique to angiosperms.

A complete flower contains all four organs, while an incomplete flower is missing at least one. A bisexual (or “perfect”) flower has both stamens and carpels, and a unisexual (or “imperfect”) flower either lacks stamens (and is called carpellate) or lacks carpels (and is called staminate). Species with both staminate flowers and carpellate flowers on the same plant (e.g., corn) are monoecious, from the Greek for “one house.” Species in which the staminate flowers are on one plant and the carpellate flowers are on another are dioecious, from the Greek for “two houses.”

Floral organs are often united or fused: connation is the fusion of similar organs—e.g., the fused petals in the morning glory; adnation is the fusion of different organs—for example, the stamens fused to petals in the mint family (Lamiaceae). The basic floral pattern consists of alternating whorls of organs positioned concentrically: from outside inward, sepals, petals, stamens, and carpels (Figure 12). It is possible in most cases to interpret the flower with respect to missing parts and/or the modification of parts to function as missing parts simply by positional relationships. In a complete five-merous flower (starting from the outside) there would be a whorl of five sepals, followed by an alternating whorl of five petals, followed by an alternating set of five stamens. In the floral diagram (Figure 12), the midline of each petal is midway between the midlines of two adjacent sepals. Because the whorls alternate, the midline of each stamen of the stamen whorl is between the midlines of two adjacent petals and on the midline of each sepal. When the petals are missing and bracts appear coloured and petaloid as in the Bougainvillea, one of the three whorls is missing: there are only two whorls of five organs instead of the three whorls of five organs described above. Because one whorl of the flower is obviously composed of stamens that bear functional pollen and the other whorl is composed of a brightly coloured set of organs that resemble petals one might conclude that the sepals are missing. But examination of positional relationships between the whorls reveals that the midline of each stamen is on the same line as the midline of the organs of the brightly coloured set. Thus, position tells us that the brightly coloured whorl represents a sepal whorl and that the sepals have assumed the function of the missing petals.

The receptacle

The receptacle is the axis (stem) to which the floral organs are attached. Floral organs are attached either in a low continuous spiral, as is common among primitive angiosperms, or in alternating successive whorls, as is found among most angiosperms.

The peduncle is the stalk of a flower or an inflorescence. When a flower is borne singly, the internode between the receptacle and the bract (the last leaf, often modified and usually smaller than the other leaves) is the peduncle. When the flowers are borne in an inflorescence, the peduncle is the internode between the bract and the inflorescence; the internode between the receptacle of each flower and its underlying bracteole is called a pedicel. Thus, in inflorescences, bracteole is the equivalent of bract, and pedicel is the equivalent of peduncle.

Often the bract subtending an inflorescence is brightly coloured, as in the poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima; Euphorbiaceae), or provides protection, as in the woody, boat-shaped bracts in many palms. Bracteoles in the inflorescence of Bougainvillea also are brightly coloured to attract pollinators. In some angiosperms, the receptacle becomes fleshy; in the strawberry, for example, the receptacle is the fleshy edible part of the strawberry and, when eaten by small mammals and birds, aids in seed dispersal. In others, the peduncle or pedicel becomes fleshy; in the cashew (Anacardium occidentale; Anacardiaceae), for example, the pedicel is made into a drink in the Neotropics, and it also aids in fruit dispersal of the much smaller cashew nut. In cacti (e.g., prickly pear), the fleshy part of the edible fruit forms from the receptacle and peduncle, and several internodes below that grow up and surround the carpels; this is why there are axillary buds in cacti (areoles) with spines on the fruit surface.

The calyx

The sepals (collectively called the calyx) most resemble leaves because of their generally green colour. From their base and along most of their length, sepals remain either separate (aposepalous, or polysepalous) or marginally fused (synsepalous), forming a tube with terminal lobes or teeth. The number of calyx lobes equals the number of fused (connate) sepals.

The sepals enclose and protect the unopened flower bud. The calyx is commonly persistent and evident when the fruit matures (e.g., persimmon, Diospyros virginiana; Ebenaceae), in contrast to the more short-lived petals and stamens. Sepals may be brightly coloured and function as petals when true petals are missing—for example, the virgin’s bower (Clematis; Ranunculaceae) and the Bougainvillea. Petaloid sepals in this case differ from tepals because the first group of stamens are on the same radii as the sepals, indicating the absence of the petals, which would normally be positioned on alternating radii in the next floral whorl.