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Northern Ontario Plant Database |
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General Floral Terminology
flower - the modified reproductive shoot of an angiosperm. When all parts are present, consisting of a whorl of sepals, petals, stamens, and pistil.
solitary flower - a single flower borne on a peduncle.
inflorescence - a cluster of flowers.
bract - a modified leaf subtending a flower or located in an inflorescence.
merous - the suffix used to describe the number of floral parts in each whorl. A plant with floral parts in multiples of 3 (3 petals, 3 sepals, 6 stamens, and a single 3-carpelled pistil) is considered to be 3-merous. Most higher angiosperms are either 3-, 4-, or 5-merous.
sterile floral structures
petal - the inner sterile whorl of a flower, often colourful to attract pollinators.
corolla - a collective term for all the petals.
sepal -the outer sterile whorl of a flower, usually green.
calyx - a collective term for all the sepals.
tepals - petals and sepals that are alike in colour and shape.
perianth - a collective term for all the petals and sepals.
hypanthium - a floral structure formed by the fusion of floral parts around a pistil
receptacle (or torus) - the basal portion of a flower to which all floral parts are attached.
male floral structures
stamen - the male reproductive organ of a flower.
anther - the fertile portion of a stamen, the part in which pollen is produced, usually consisting of 4 microsporangia.
filament - the sterile portion of a stamen, supports the anther.
androecium - a collective term describing all the stamens in a flower.
female floral structures
carpel - the female reproductive organ of a flower; one unit of a compound pistil.
pistil - the female reproductive organ of a flower, composed of 1 to several carpels.
stigma - the pollen receptive structure at the top of a pistil.
style - the stalk between the stigma and the ovary.
ovary - the fertile part of the pistil, containing the ovules and developing into the fruit.
locule - the chamber in a carpel, within which the ovules are located.
ovule - the nucellus (megasporangium) and integuments, contains the egg nucleus.
gynoecium - a collective term describing all the pistils in a flower.
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