BOI 101/3

Organisms Biodiversity (Flower

structure and functions)
Assoc. prof Dr Rahmad Zakaria
[email protected]
Adapted from
Dr. Rosazlina Rusly
[email protected]
 Flower
Structure
• A flower is a reproductive shoot usually
consisting of four kinds of organs—
sepals, petals, stamens, and carpels.
• Pedicel refers to a structure connecting
a single flower to its inflorescence.
• The stem or branch from the main stem
of the inflorescence that holds a group
of pedicels is called a peduncle.
• The peduncle may terminate in a single
flower or a cluster of flowers known as
an inflorescence.
• The tip of the peduncle enlarges to
form a receptacle that bears some or
all of the flower parts.
• All four floral parts are important in the
reproductive process, but only the
stamens and carpels participate directly
in sexual reproduction.
• Sepals and petals are sterile.
 Flower
Structure
• Sepals, which constitute the
outermost and lowest whorl
on a floral shoot, are leaflike
in shape and form and are
often green.
• Sepals cover and protect the
flower parts when the
flower is a bud.
• As the blossom opens from
a bud, the sepals fold back
to reveal the more
conspicuous petals. The
collective term for all the
sepals of a flower is calyx.
 Flower
Structure
• The whorl just inside and
above the sepals consists of
petals, which are broad, flat,
and thin (like sepals and
leaves) but tremendously
varied in shape and frequently
brightly colored, which
attracts pollinators.
• Petals play an important role
in ensuring that sexual
reproduction will occur.
• The collective term for all the
petals of a flower is corolla.
 Flower
Structure
• Just inside and above the
petals are the stamens known
collectively as the
androecium.
• Each stamen has a thin stalk
called a filament, at the top of
which is an anther, a saclike
structure in which pollen
grains form.
• For sexual reproduction to
occur, pollen grains must be
transferred from the anther to
the carpel, usually of another
flower of the same species.
A tapetum is the
deepest layer of
the anther,
which
encompasses
the sporogenous
tissue. The
sporogenous
tissue produces
microspores that
supply enzymes
and nutrition for
pollen
development.
 • Pollen grains are microscopic structures that
carry the male reproductive cell of plants.
• The inside of the grain contains cytoplasm

Pollen grains along with the tube cell (which becomes

the pollen tube) and the generative cell (which
releases the sperm nuclei).
• The germ pore helps in the formation of
the pollen tube and the release of the male
gametes during fertilization.
• There are three main components of a pollen
grain. The inside of the grain is made up
of cytoplasm (keeping them moist and alive).
• The outer shell is made up of two layers. The
inside layer is aptly named the intine (think
interior). It is composed partly of cellulose, a
common component in the cell walls of plant
cells.
• The outer layer is known as the exine (think
exterior). This highly sophisticated and
complex outer layer is rich in a compound
known as sporopollenin.
• Sporopollenin is remarkably waterproof and
resistant to almost all chemicals; it protects the
pollen grain and keeps it from drying out as it
is being carried by wind or animals.
 • The exine can have ridges, bumps,
Pollen grains spines, and numerous other features
so characteristic that each species
has its own particular pattern.
• In many cases, it is possible to
examine a single pollen grain and
know exactly which species of plant
produced it.
• Because sporopollenin is so resistant,
pollen grains and their characteristic
patterns fossilize well.
• By examining samples of old soil,
botanists can determine exactly
which plants grew in an area at a
particular time in the ancient past.
 • In the center or top of most flowers is one or more carpels. Carpels bear ovules,
which are structures that have the potential to develop into seeds.
• A single carpel or a group of fused carpels is sometimes called a pistil. A pistil may
Flower Structure consist of a single carpel (making it a simple pistil) or a group of fused carpels
(making it a compound pistil).
• In most flowers, each carpel or group of fused carpels has three sections: a stigma,
on which the pollen grains land; a style, a necklike structure through which the
pollen tube grows; and an ovary, a juglike structure that contains one or more ovules
and can develop into a fruit.
 • A flower that has all four
parts—sepals, petals, stamens,
Flower Structure and carpels—is said to be a
complete flower; an
incomplete flower lacks one or
more of these four parts.
• A flower that has both stamens
and carpels is described as a
perfect flower; an imperfect
flower has stamens or carpels,
but not both. Thus, an
imperfect flower is also an
incomplete flower.
• However, a perfect flower may
be complete (if it has both
sepals and petals) or
incomplete (if it lacks sepals or
petals).
 • Each ovule contains a female
gametophyte, also known as an
Flower Structure embryo sac, in which develop one
female gamete (an egg) and two
polar nuclei.
• An ovary is designated as superior or
inferior depending on its location
relative to other flower parts; this
character is used a great deal in the
classification of flowering plants.
• A superior ovary is one that has the
other floral organs (sepals, petals,
and stamens) free from the ovary
and attached at the ovary’s base
(Ovary positioned above calyx)
• An inferior ovary is one that is
located below the point at which the
other floral organs are attached
(Ovary positioned below calyx).
 • The placenta is the point of attachment
Placentation of the ovule to the ovulary wall.
Placentation can be an important
classification character in various plant
taxa.
• marginal - ovules lined up in a row on
one side of the ovulary
• axile (ovules are attached to the central
column connected to ovulary walls by
partitions (number of chambers =
number of carpels))
• parietal (ovules are connected to the
inner surface of the outer wall)
• free central (ovules attached to a central
column not connected to the rest of the
ovulary
• basal (ovule(s) attached to the base of
the ovulary)
• apical (ovule(s) attached to the apex of
the ovulary)
COROLLA SHAPES
Inflorescence
• Many flowers are grouped together into an
inflorescence.
• Consequently, the plant can be in bloom and available
to pollinators for several weeks even though each
flower lasts only a day or two.
• Considering the numerous types of plants, pollinators,
and environments, the diversity of flower and
inflorescence types is not surprising.
• In the simplest arrangement, flowers occur individually
in leaf axils or as a transformation of the shoot apex.
• When grouped into inflorescences, two basic
arrangements occur: (1) determinate inflorescences
and (2) indeterminate inflorescences.