Flowers:

Sexual Reproductive
Organs of
Angiosperms
 stamen Carpel or pistil
(male reproductive part) (female reproductive part)

filament anther stigma style ovary

Flower
Parts

petal (all petals ovule

combined =corolla) (forms
within
ovary)
sepal (all sepals
combined = calyx)
receptacle
 FLORAL WHORLS
1. Sepals (calyx)
2. Petals (corolla)
3. Stamen (androecium)
4. Carpel or pistil (gynoecium)

1 & 2 are accessory parts

3 & 4 are essential parts
Perianth cycly = no. of whorls in perianth
Perianth merosity = no. of parts per whorl
 Gynoecium
= all female parts of a flower

Pistil
= structure consisting of ovary, style(s), and stigma(s)

Carpel
= conduplicate megasporophyll

Carpel can be unit of pistil, if pistil compound

(composed of >1 carpel)
Gynoecium:
Gynoecial Development/Fusion:
Gynoecial Fusion:

Crassula argentea Crassulaceae

 Gynoecial Fusion:

Connation: fusion of floral parts from the same whorl

Androecium:
 FUSION OF FLORAL PARTS
Connation: fusion of floral parts from the same whorl

Fused filaments staminal tube

diadelphous monadelphous
Perianth Fusion:
Adnation: fusion of floral
parts from different whorls
 Floral Variations
1. Floral whorls:
a. complete - ALL 4 whorls present
b. incomplete - lacking one [or more] of the
whorls

2. Essential parts
a. perfect – both stamen and pistil present
[HERMAPHRODITIC]
b. imperfect – either stamen or pistil is
absent
 3. Symmetry
- perianth arrangement important in pollination

b. Flowers bilaterally symmetrical

a. Flowers radially symmetrical (=zygomorphic)
(= actinomorphic)
 Zygomorphic Flowers

1. Orchidaceous 2. Papilionaceous

4. Bilabiate (=2-lipped)
3. Caesalpinaceous
Papilionaceous Flower
Caesalpinaceous Flower
Orchidaceous Flower
a
b

4. Nature of corolla:
a. Polypetalous
b. Gamopetalous
c. Apetalous c
Apetalous flowers
Bougainvillea

Powder puff

Statice
5. Position of ovary
a. Superior
b. Inferior

6. Insertion of Parts
a. Epigynous
b. Hypogynous
c. Perigynous
 8. Inflorescence:

A collection or aggregation of flowers

Boundaries defined by vegetative leaves below
 Inflorescence parts:

• Peduncle - stalk of inflorescence

• Inflorescence axes - branches of inflorescence
• Bract
• Flower bract - subtends individual flower
• Inflorescence bract - subtends entire
inflorescence or an inflorescence axis.
• Involucre - group of inflorescence bracts
subtending entire inflorescence, e.g., in
compound umbel of Apiaceae,
head of Asteraceae
• Spathe - specialized single inflorescence
bract that subtends entire inflor., e.g.,
spadix of Araceae
 Inflorescence position:

1. Terminal - develops from apical meristem of

primary shoot or of an extended lateral branch,
with vegetative leaves.
2. Axillary - develops from axillary bud of a
vegetative leaf, does not develop into an
extended branch system.

Inflorescence development:

1. Determinate - terminal flower develops first

2. Indeterminate - basal flower develops first
Umbel
Inflorescence
Parsley
(Umbelliferae
or Apiaceae)
 Besides these indeterminate inflorescences, there is a series of
inflorescence types based on determinate shoots (shoot can not
grow up indefinitely). The simplest is the dichasium.

oldest flower

younger flowers
Dichasium
The dichasium inflorescence is
terminated (i.e., determinate) by the
oldest flower and flanked by two lateral (Clematis or virgin’s-bower)
younger flowers.
Specialized inflorescences:

Quercus kelloggii Fagaceae

male
flower

Quercus suber Fagaceae

Specialized inflorescences:

spathe

spadix

Zantedeschia aethiopica Araceae

 SPADIX
Anthurium
SPATHE

SPADIX

Amorphophallus
Specialized inflorescences:

compound
receptacle

Ficus rubiginosa Moraceae

Specialized inflorescences:
Specialized inflorescences:
Specialized inflorescences:
 Flower variations
1. Four whorls: complete / incomplete
2. Essential parts: perfect/ imperfect
3. Nature of corolla: polypetalous (free petals)/
gamopetalous (fused petals) / apetalous (no petals)
4. Symmetry : actinomorphic/ zygomorphic
5. Position of Ovary: superior/inferior
6. Attachment of floral parts: Epi-/hypo-/perigynous
7. Placentation: Marginal/axile/basal/free central/parietal
8. Inflorescence:
solitary/raceme/cyme/umbel/corymb/spike/panicle/ catkin
/spadix/ composite
 Flowers are for Sexual reproduction
• Sexual reproduction is important for evolution.
• Sexual reproduction produces variable offspring,
creating diversity and variation among populations
(shuffling of genes)
• Variation is needed for Natural Selection to occur
• Sexual reproduction is advantageous to an organism
only if it happens with someone other than itself!
• Most plants (97%) have both sexes on one body
(hermaphroditic )
 Selfing
• Requires self-compatibility
• Often accompanied by structurally
enforced mechanism (= cleistogamous
flowers)
• Some species are obligate selfers (e.g.,
some grasses, some orchids), others
produce self-fertilizing flowers
seasonally, etc.
Methods of Preventing Inbreeding
 Methods to prevent self-pollination
(=outcrossing mechanisms)
Method Explanation
a) Dichogamy anthers & stigmas mature at different times to
minimize self-pollination
i) protandry
Androecium ripens first
ii) protogyny Gynoecium ripens first
b) Unisexual only male or female flowers on a plant, monoecious
(one plant) or dioecious (2 plants)
flowers
c) Incompatibility produce chemical in stigma to prevent germination of
their own pollens

d) Heterostyly thrum-eyed: anthers high up & stigmas low down

pin-eyed: stigmas high up & anthers low down
 Heterostyly
– Found in entomophilous
species
– Different floral forms on
different individuals
– Each form differs from
others in relative position
of stigma and anthers
– Pollen transfer only
successful with visits
between forms
 Agents of Cross-Pollination

1. WIND
• Gymnosperms and some
flowering plants (grasses, trees)
use wind pollination.
• Flowers are small, grouped together
• Not a very efficient method
(too chancy and wasteful)
2. ANIMALS
• Insects – bees, wasps, flies, butterflies, moths

• Birds – hummingbirds, honey creepers

• Mammals – bats, mice, monkeys

• Even some reptiles and amphibians!

• Plants evolve elaborate methods to attract
animal pollinators
• Animals evolved specialized body parts and
behaviors that aid plant pollination

• Coevolution
– interactions between two different species as
selective forces on each other, resulting in
adaptations that increase their interdependency.
 Animal pollinators: Bees
• Bees – are the most important group
of flower pollinators
• They live on the nectar and feed
larvae, also eat the pollen.
• Bees are guided by sight and
smell
• See yellow and blue colors,
also ultraviolet light (not red)
• Flowers have honey guides”
and bee landing platforms..
 Butterflies and moths
• Also guided by sight and smell
• Butterflies can see red and orange
flowers
• Flowers are usually shaped
as a long tube because of insect’s
proboscis – to get nectar
• Moth-pollinated flowers
are usually white or pale,
with sweet, strong odor –
for night pollination.
 Flies and beetles
• Flies like flowers that smell
like dung or rotten meat.
• Lay their eggs there, but larvae
die due to lack of food

• Beetles pollinate flowers

that are dull in color, but
have very strong odor
 Birds
• Birds have a good sense
of color, they like yellow or
red flowers…
• But birds do not have a good
sense of smell, so bird-pollinated
flowers usually have little odor.
• Flowers provide fluid nectar in
greater quantities than insects
• Hummingbird-pollinated flowers
usually have long, tubular corolla
• Pollen is large and sticky
 Mammals:
bats and mice

• Bats pollinate at night,

so flowers are white

• Mouse-pollinated flowers
are usually inconspicuous,
they open at night
 Why do animals pollinate plants?
• They get a REWARD: food! In exchange for
moving their pollen to another flower

1. Nectar – a sugary solution produced in special flower

glands called nectaries
• Nectar concentration matches energy requirements of
the pollinator: bird- and bee-pollinated flowers have
different sugar conc.
2. Pollen – is high in protein, some bees and beetles eat
it.
• Flowers can produce two kinds of pollen: a normal and
a sterile, but tasty, kind, for the insect.
 Getting the pollinator’s attention
• Plants advertise their pollen and nectar rewards
with
1. Colors – bees see blue, yellow, UV; while birds
see red. Bats don’t see well, so flowers are white.
2. Nectar or honey guides –
a visual guide for pollinator
to locate the reward (pansy flower)
3. Aromas – for insects.
Can also be carrion or dung smell
 Plant Mimicry
• Some plants take advantage of the sex drive of
certain insects…
• Certain orchids look like female wasps, and
even smell like them!
• Males try to mate with them,
and in the process they
pollinate the plant
• The orchid gets pollinated,
but the male wasp only gets
frustrated!
3.Water

Pollen boats
 A word about pollen…
• The shape and form of pollen is related to its
method of pollination…
• Insect-pollinated species
have sticky or barbed
pollen grains

• Wind-pollinated species
is lightweight, small and
smooth (corn pollen)
 Development of Pollen Grains,
the male gametophyte

•Cells within anther

undergo meiosis
•Produce 4 spores
•Each spore undergoes
mitosis
•Results in pollen grain
containing 2 sperm
Development of the Embryo Sac,
the female gametophyte
• Within ovule, a cell
undergoes meiosis
• Produces 4 spores
• 1 spore undergoes mitosis
• Produces embryo sac
• Egg is contained within
embryo sac
 Double
fertilization
• During pollination, pollen
lands on stigma
• Sperm travels down
pollen tube
• 1 sperm fertilizes egg and
becomes the zygote
• another sperm fertilizes
the polar nuclei and forms
the endosperm, the tissue
that will nourish the
embryo
 Pollen grain Stigma

Pollen tube

• Growth of 1If a pollen grain

germinates, a pollen tube
2 sperm

the pollen grows down the style

toward the ovary.
Style
Ovary
tube and Polar
nuclei
Ovule (containing
double Egg female
gametophyte, or
fertilization embryo sac)
Micropyle
Ovule
The pollen tube
2
discharges two sperm into Polar nuclei
the female gametophyte Egg
(embryo sac) within an ovule.
Two sperm
about to be
3
One sperm fertilizes discharged
the egg, forming the zygote.
The other sperm combines with
the two polar nuclei of the embryo Endosperm nucleus (3n)
sac’s large central cell, forming (2 polar nuclei plus sperm)
a triploid cell that develops into Zygote (2n)
the nutritive tissue called (egg plus sperm)
endosperm.
Ovule develops into
seed
 Fate of floral parts after fertilization
Floral Part Fate after fertilization
(a) sepals, petals & All wither and drop off
stamens
(b) ovary  fruit
i) ovary wall  fruit wall
ii) ovule  seed
iii) integuments  seed coat (testa)
iv) fertilized egg  embryo
v) fertilized polar bodies  endosperm
Ovary develops into a fruit
FRUITS protect
the seeds!
 Fruit
• Fruit is a mature, ripened ovary that contains the
seeds
• Fruit types
A. Based on origin:
1. Simple
2. Aggregate
3. Multiple
B. Based on nature of pericarp (=ovary wall)
1. Fleshy
2. Dry
a. Dehiscent
b. Indehiscent
 1. Simple fruit
Simple fruit develops from a single ovary of a
single flower.
• Simple fruits can be either fleshy or dry
when mature
– Simple fleshy fruits include:
1. Berry
2. Hesperidium
3. Pepo
4. Pome
5. Drupe
 Simple Fleshy fruits
Seed

Berry (simple fruit)

A simple, fleshy fruit in which the
fruit wall is soft throughout.

Tomato (Lycopersicon lycopersicum)

Fig. 9-12a, p. 187

 Simple fleshy fruit

berry

drupe pepo hesperidium pome

Simple Fleshy fruits

Drupe (simple fruit)

A simple, fleshy fruit in which
the inner wall of the fruit
is a hard stone.

Peach (Prunus persica)

Single seed inside

stone

Fig. 9-12b, p. 187

 Simple Fleshy fruits
• Pomes: most of the fleshy part of pomes develops from
the enlarged base of the perianth (corolla and calyx) that
has fused with the ovary wall

Accessory Fruit
Enlarged
floral tube

Ovary
wall Seed

Accessory fruit
A fruit composed primarily
of nonovarian tissue (such as
the receptacle or floral tube).

Apple (Malus sylvestris)

Fig. 9-12k, p. 187

 Simple DRY fruits
• Dehiscent • Indehiscent
1. Follicle 1. Achene
2. Legumes or pods 2. Cypsella
3. Capsule 3. Caryopsis or grain
4. Loment 4. Nut
5. Silique 5. Samara
6. Schizocarp
7. Utricle
follicle legume silique silicle
The world's largest legume fruits (bean
pods)
• are produced by the tropical liana
Entada. The longest pods of the Central
American E. gigas may be up to 5 feet
long (1.5 m).
capsule loculicidal septicidal circumscissile poricidal
capsule capsule capsule capsule
Split-open
suture

Capsule (simple fruit)

A simple, dry fruit that splits
open along two or more sutures
or pores to release its seeds;
fruit is formed from ovary that
Seed consists of two or more carpels.

Iris (Iris)

Fig. 9-12e, p. 187

 Simple dry, indehiscent fruit

achene grain /
utricle samara nut
caryopsis
 Scale-covered
cup

Woody Nut (simple fruit)

fruit A simple, dry fruit that has a
wall stony wall, is usually large, and
does not split open at maturity.

Oak (Quercus)

Single
seed

Fig. 9-12h, p. 187

 Endosperm

Cotyledon

Caryopsis Plumule
— corn
Fruit wall fused
to seed coat

Radicle

(a) The corn (Zea mays) fruit is a caryopsis,

or grain. In grains, the fruit wall is fused to
the seed coat.
Fig. 9-15a, p. 190
 Plumule

Radicle
Cotyledons
Nut —
Seed coat
acorn Fruit wall

Cup of fused
bracts

(b) An oak (Quercus) acorn is a nut. A nut

has a hard fruit wall that surrounds a single
seed.
Fig. 9-15b, p. 190
Achene — Fruit wall

sunflower Seed coat

Cotyledon

Radicle

Attachment of
seed to fruit wall

(c) A sunflower (Helianthus annuus) fruit is an achene.

Its seed coat is attached to the fruit wall at one spot only,
and it is possible to peel off the fruit wall, to separate it
from the seed.
Fig. 9-15c, p. 190
 2. Aggregate Fruit
• Aggregate fruit develops from one flower with
many separate pistils/carpels, all ripening
simultaneously
• Examples: strawberry, raspberries, blackberries
 2. Aggregate Fruit
Stigmas and styles

Stamens
Remnants of stigmas
and styles
Ovaries (in a)
become tiny drupes (in b)
Receptacle
Remnants of stamens
Sepal
Petal
Ovaries of separate carpels

Fig. 9-16ab, p. 190

 3. Multiple fruit
• Multiple fruit develops from ovaries of
several flowers borne/fused together on the
same stalk
Seed

Multiple fruit
A fruit that develops from the
ovaries of a group of flowers.

Mulberry (Morus)

Fig. 9-12j, p. 187

Single
female
flower

Inflorescence
(a cluster of
flowers on
a common
floral stalk)

Multiple
fruit

Fig. 9-17b, p. 191

 Fruit ripening
• Changes that occur as fruit ripens
1. Fruit softens as a result of enzymes digesting components of the cell
walls
2. Color changes from green to red, yellow, orange (Chromoplasts
replace chloroplasts.)
3. Taste and smell becomes sweeter as organic acids or starch
molecules are converted to sugars

• Ethylene, a plant hormone, triggers ripening

• One bad fruit spoils the whole bunch
• Climacteric vs non-climacteric fruits
• Climacteric fruits produce high levels of ethylene during
ripening; can ripen after harvest
• Non-climacteric fruits only ripen while still in the mother plant
Fruits enable successful seed dispersal.
Diaspore – dispersal unit (seeds and/or fruits)

Atelochory – absence of specialized dispersal unit

Dispersal is important because

1. It spreads the progeny in order to colonize new environments
2. Reduces competition for resources with parents
3. Reduces the chances of predators destroying all of the plant’s
yearly seed production
 Four types of seed dispersal

1.Self dispersal (Autochory)

2.Wind dispersal (Anemochory)
3.Water dispersal (Hydrochory)
4.Animal dispersal (Zoochory)

– Myrmecochory – ants dispersal

– Exozoic – diaspore attached to animals
– Endozoic – diaspore eaten, passes through guts
 Self dispersal
• Plants disperse their seeds by forceful ejection –
explosive fruits!

• The peanut plant sows

(buries) its own seeds!
• Geocarpic: carpel
grows inside the earth
(soil)
Fruits can be carried by wind, water, or animals to
new locations, enhancing seed dispersal
Wings enable maple fruits • Plumes catch wind
to be easily carried by the wind.
currents: Dandelion

Seeds within berries and other

edible fruits are often dispersed
in animal feces.

The barbs of cockleburs

facilitate seed dispersal by
allowing the fruits to
“hitchhike” on animals.
 Flying Seeds and Fruits
• The remarkable winged seed
of the tropical Asian climbing
gourd Alsomitra macrocarpa.
The entire seed has a wingspan
of 5 inches (13 cm) and is
capable of gliding through the
air of the rain forest in wide
circles. This seed reportedly
inspired the design of early
aircraft and gliders.
• The winged fruits of the quipo
tree (Cavanillesia
platanifolia)
 Water Dispersal

• Fruits and/or seeds use

flotation devices to
travel by water (in
rivers, oceans, etc.)
• Fruit may have air
spaces and corky floats
 Seed Structure
• The embryo and its food supply are enclosed by a hard, protective seed coat
• In a common garden bean, a eudicot, the embryo consists of the hypocotyl,
radicle, and thick cotyledons (seed leaves)

Hypocotyl : The Seed coat Epicotyl

embryonic axis below Hypocotyl
cotyledon attachment Radicle
point and above radicle
Cotyledons
Epicotyl: The embryonic
axis above point of
cotyledon attachment
Common garden bean, a eudicot with thick cotyledons. The
Radicle: The embryonic fleshy cotyledons store food absorbed from the endosperm before
root the seed germinates.

Note lack of obvious endosperm

• The seeds of other eudicots, such as castor beans
have similar structures, but thin cotyledons

Seed coat
Seed coat

Endosperm
Endosperm

Cotyledons
Cotyledons

Epicotyl
Epicotyl

Hypocotyl
Hypocotyl

Radicle
Radicle

Castor bean, a eudicot with thin cotyledons. The narrow,

membranous cotyledons (shown in edge and flat views) absorb
food from the endosperm when the seed germinates.
 Monocot seed
• The embryo of a monocot has a single cotyledon, a
coleoptile, and a coleorhiza
Pericarp fused
with seed coat
Scutellum
(cotyledon) Endosperm
Epicotyl
Coleoptile

Hypocotyl
Coleorhiza Radicle

Maize, a monocot. Like all monocots, maize has only one

cotyledon. Maize and other grasses have a large cotyledon called a
scutellum. The rudimentary shoot is sheathed in a structure called
the coleoptile, and the coleorhiza covers the young root.
Hypogeal or cryptocotylar germination in Monocots
Epigeal or phanerocotylar germination in Eudicots
 How are seedless fruits formed?
1. Pollination failure
2. Chromosomal imbalance, e.g. banana,
seedless watermelon (2n x 4n = 3n)
3. Application of auxin
• In some plants, e.g. tomato and cucumber,
application of auxin to flowers before pollen
matures can promote parthenocarpy
 Asexual reproduction
1. Fragmentation = separation of a parent
plant into parts that develop into whole
plants
2. Apomixis = asexual production of seeds
• A diploid cell in the ovule develops into an
embryo which mature into a seed
3. Vegetative propagation (Stem/leaf/root
cuttings, Budding, Grafting, Marcotting)
Vegetative Propagation – produces plants which are
genetically exact replicas of the mother tree

• Cuttings – portion of the root,

shoot, branch, stem, leaf or bud
cut from selected parent plant.
– With root hormone or rooting media
– induce to produce roots

– Root cuttings – rimas

– Leaf cuttings – sanseviera , begonia
and black pepper
– Stem cuttings -
 • Crops propagated through cuttings
vegetables fruits Plantation ornamentals
crops
Alugbati Grape Black pepper Rose
Kangkong Macopa Lagundi Chrysantemum
Malunggay Strawberry Coffee Santan
Sweet potato Siniguelas tea Bougainvilla
tomato Citrus
Passion fruit
 Vegetative Propagation -
Grafting
• involves joining the stock (=mother plant)
with the scion (=desired variety)
• fitting should be made to attain maximum
contact between the cambium layers of the
two parts
• being a meristematic region, the cambium
layer forms new xylem and phloem vessels
in both stock and the scion, resulting in a
permanent union of these two parts.
• Aside from favorable
environmental conditions,
the following have to be
met for successful
graftage:
• 1) there be must be union
of the cambium layers of
stock and scion, and
• 2) the scion must also be
kept alive until the union
been effected.
 Asexual reproduction and agriculture

• What is the main disadvantage of asexual

reproduction?
– No genetic variation
• Nearly all of today’s crop plants have very
little genetic variation
• Also grown in monocultures
– Large areas of land with a single plant species
End of lecture!