Flowers

What is a flower?

● Part of the shoot

system specializing in
sexual reproduction
 Parts of a Typical
Flower
● Pedicel – the stalk that holds the flower
● Receptacle – somewhat enlarged tip of the
pedicel from which the floral parts
arise
● Sepal – one of the several leaf-like structures that
make up the outermost circle of the floral
parts.
- usually green in color
-protects the flower while it is still a
bud
● Calyx – the collective term for all sepals
Parts of a Typical Flower
● Petal - one of the
colored leaf-like
structures that occurs
in one or more circles
within the sepals
● Corolla – collective
term for all petals
● Perianth – collective
term for the sepals and
petals
Parts of a Typical Flower
● Pistil (carpel) – the seed
bearing organ of the flower;
usually pear-shaped and found
at the center of the flower.
- composed of ovary, style
and stigma.
-collectively called gynoecium.
- when the carpels are united,
the gynoecium is described
as syncarpous; when free,
the gynoecium is described
as apocarpous
Parts of a Typical Flower

● Ovary – the enlarged basal part of the pistil

- it can have one or more locules
(cavities)
containing ovules
that develop into seeds after
fertilization
a. Ovules – the structure in the ovary
that
develops into a seed
after
fertilization
● Style –long and slender neck-like part extending
from the ovary. It serves as a passageway for the
pollen from the stigma to the ovary
Parts of a Typical Flower
● Stamen – the essential male part of the
flower consisting of an anther and a
filament. The anther and the filament are
collectively called androecium.
a. Anther – where pollen
grains are produced.
It is supported by the slender filament
and usually consists of four pollen sacs
b. Filament – the slender stalk
that supports the anther
Classification of Flowers

● Presence or absence of floral

parts

● 1. complete flower – a flower

that has all the four essential
floral parts: the sepal, petal,
stamen and pistil
● 2. Incomplete flower – a
flower that lacks one or more
of the four floral parts
Classification of Flowers

● Presence or absence of floral

parts

● 3. Perfect flower – a flower

with both the stamen and the
pistil (may lack sepals and
petals); also called bisexual
flowers
● 4. Imperfect flower – a flower
that bears either the stamen or
pistil. The flower may be
staminate or pistillate. It is also
called a unisexual flower
Size and Shape of Floral
Parts
● 1. Regular flower – a flower in
which the corolla is made up of
similarly-shaped petals equally
spaced and radiating from the
center of the flower
● 2. Irregular flower – a flower
in which one or more members
of at least one whorl are of a
different form or size from
others.
Different types of Irregular flowers
● A. Papilionaceous – the standard petal or banner is usually the
largest and the most striking. The two wings or alae are lateral,
and a keel is present (Ex. batao and sitao flowers)
Different types of Irregular flowers
● B. Caesalpinaceous – the standard petal is the smallest and the
innermost. The two wings and the two keels are almost the same in
size and shape (Ex. Fire tree and Caballero)
Different types of Irregular flowers
● C. Orchidaceous – the flower has three petals; one is very much
different in size and shape and is called the lip or labellum. (Ex.
Cattleya, Dendrobium etc. ).
Symmetry
● 1. Radial symmetry – symmetry in which a flower is divisible on
more than one axis into two equal halves that are mirror images of
each other. This is also known as regular or actinomorphic
symmetry
● 2. Bilateral Symmetry – symmetry in which a flower is distinctly
divisible into right and left sides i.e., divisible into mirror images on
only one axis. It is also known as irregular or zygomorphic
symmetry.
Position of the Ovary

● 1. Perigynous – a flower in which the ovary is half-interior

but the bases of the stamens, petals and sepals develop as a
floral cup around the ovary
● 2. Hypogynous - a flower in which the ovary is superior,
with the stamens, petals, and sepals arising from a level
below the base of the ovary
● 3. Epigynous – a flower in which the ovary is inferior, with
the stamen, petals, and sepals arising from a level above the
base of the ovary.
Types of Ovary based on Location
Placentation

● The part of the ovary where the ovule is

attached to is called the placenta.
Placentation maybe:
1. Marginal – the ovules are attached to
vertical rows along the ovary wall.

2. Parietal – in a compound pistil, the

carpels are joined margin to margin and
the placenta is situated on the ovary walls
Placentation

● The part of the ovary where the ovule is

attached to is called the placenta.
Placentation maybe:

3. Basal – found in both simple and

compound carpels, with one locule in the
ovary. The ovule is attached to the base of
the ovary
4. Axile – the ovules are attached to the
middle of the ovary, where the septae of a
compound pistil are joined.
Fusion of Floral Parts
● 1. Adnation – when unlike parts like petals and sepals are
fused
Fusion of Floral Parts
● 2. Connation – when like parts are fused, as in the petals of
lavender
 Inflorescence
● A plant may produce flowers singly
at the end of the main shoot, at the
end of a branch shoot, or in the axil
of leaves. Flowers may also occur in
groups or clusters. This phenomenon
is called inflorescence
1. Spike – elongated axis; flowers are
sessile or without a stalk.
Ex. Black pepper
2. Spadix – a spike with a fleshy axis,
enclosed by a large, often
brightly-colored bract called spathe
Ex. Calla lily, Anthurium
Inflorescence
3. Catkin – a spike with a long
and pendulous axis; bears
unisexual flowers only. (Ex. Buntot
ng pusa (Acalypha hispida)

4. Raceme – elongated axis; bears

a number of flowers which are all
stalked, the lower flowers having
longer stalks than the upper (Ex.
Cassia, Caesalpinia, Aloe)
Inflorescence
● 5. Panicle – main axis of the
flower is branched and the
lateral branches bear the
stalked flowers(Ex. Rice,
malunggay)

● 6. Cyme – the main axis

ends in a flower that opens
before the flowers below or in
its side open. Further growth
takes place with the growth
of one or more laterals. The
flowers may be with or
without stalks (Ex. Baby’s
breathe, Gladiolus)
 Inflorescence
● 7. Corymb – the main axis is
comparatively short. The lower
flower have longer stalks than
the upper ones so that all the
flowers are brought more or less
at the same level. (Ex. Caballero)

● 8. Umbel – the primary axis is

shortened and bears at its tip a
group of flowers which have
pedicels of more or less equal
lengths, that they appear to
spread out from a common point.
(Ex. Sapinit, Lantana camara)
Inflorescence
● 9. Capitulum or head – the
main axis is suppressed,
becoming almost flat. The
flowers (florets) are also
without any stalk that they
become crowded together on
the flat surface of the
receptacle. The capitulum is
composed of ray flowers along
the margin and disk flowers
crowded at the center of the
flower. (Ex. Sunflower, zinnia,
gerbera and daisy)
Inflorescence

● Other types:
● 1. Cyathium – consists of a cup-shaped involucre formed by
fused heads (Ex. Euphorbia sp.)
Inflorescence
● Other types:
● 2. Verticillaster – with a cluster of sessile
flowers in the axil of a leaf forming a
false whorl at the node. (Ex. Coleus sp. or
mayana)
Inflorescence

● Other types:
● 3. Hypanthodium – fleshy
receptacle forms a hollow cavity
which is more or less pear-shaped
and has a narrow opening. Flowers
are borne on the inner wall of the
cavity (Ex. Ficus nitida)
Sexual Reproduction in Flowering Plants

● The floral organs essential for sexual reproduction are the stamen
(androecium) and pistil (gynoecium).
● The Stamen – the pollen producing part of the flower
- consists of an anther and a stalk called filament.
- the anther has four elongate and connected lobes called
pollen sacs
-each pollen sacs contains a mass of dividing cells called
microsporocytes.
Sexual Reproduction in Flowering Plants

● The floral organs essential for sexual

reproduction are the stamen
(androecium) and pistil (gynoecium).

● The Pistil
- consists of a single
carpel( making it a simple pistil) or a
group of fused carpels (making it a
compound pistil)

Carpel – the ovule bearing

reproductive unit of a flower
Ovule – the structure in the ovary
that develops into a seed after
fertilization
The development of Pollen Grains
● The anther usually contains the microspore mother
cells. These cells undergo meiosis resulting to quarter or
tetrad of cells called microspores.
● The microspores separate from one another, each one
forming a thick wall and its haploid nucleus undergoing
a mitotic division
● The final product is the pollen grain with 2 nuclei.
● One of the nuclei becomes the tube nucleus. The second
nucleus, the generative nucleus, is destined to undergo
another mitotic division to produce two sperm nuclei.
The development of Pollen Grains
The development of Ovules
● The cavities of the ovary may contain protruding masses of
tissues (the ovules), which will develop into seeds after
fertilization
● Each ovule is attached through a stalk called funiculus to
the ovary at the region called the placenta.
The development of Ovules
● In each ovule, one cell is much different from the surrounding cells
and usually much larger. This is called megaspore mother cell.
● It undergoes meiosis and produces four haploid megaspore. 3 out of
these 4 will be aborted, while the fourth enlarges greatly and
undergoes three mitotic divisions to yield 8 haploid nuclei in the
embryo sac.
● Two layers of cells in the integuments cover an ovule. The gap in the
integuments is the micropyle, through which the pollen enters the
embryo sac.
● The integuments later becomes the seed coat
● The eight nuclei in an embryonic sac are disposed as follows: 3 near
the micropyle – one is the egg nucleus and two will be the synergids,
which will disintegrate; the three nuclei (the antipodals) at the end
opposite the micropyle, which also disintegrates; and the remaining
two, the polar nuclei
The development of Ovules
 Pollination
● The process of transferring pollen grain from stamen to the
stigma of a flower. There are two types of Pollination:

1. Self Pollination – the transfer of pollen from the stamen to

the stigma of the same flower or to the stigma of another
flower of the same plant

2. Cross pollination – the transfer of pollen from the anther to

the stigma of flowers found in separate plants.

● Pollination is affected by different vectors or agents like

wind, insects, birds and man.
Pollen Tube Growth and Fertilization
● After the pollen grain lands on the stigma of the pistil, the
following events occur:
1. the pollen grain on the stigma absorbs water, swells,
elongates, germinates and forms a pollen tube,
which grows down through the style by enzymatically
digesting some stylar cells, and finally enters the ovary
2. the pollen tube enters the micropyle of an ovule and releases
into the embryo sac the two sperm nuclei
Pollen Tube Growth and Fertilization
3. One haploid sperm nucleus fuses with the haploid egg
nucleus, forming a diploid zygote (2N) or a fertilized
egg
4. The second sperm nucleus fuses with the two polar
nuclei to form the triploid endosperm (3N) nuclei.
This is known as triple fusion.

Fertilization and triple fusion result in what we call

double fertilization
● The antipodals, synergids, and tube nucleus finally
disintegrate
● The zygote by a series of cell divisions develop into an
embryo.
Monoecious Plants
● Monoecious plant – when
both male and female flowers
are found in one plant. Ex.
Squash, having both the male
and female reproductive
organs or flowers in one plant
Dioecious Plants
● Dioecious plant – when male (stamen) and female (pistil)
flowers are borne in separate plants. Ex. Papaya, the male
plant bearing the male flowers and female plant bearing the
female flower.
The End!