26/06/2013 - Plant Identification Unit 20574

 Flowers Structure (Morphology)

The anther and filament together are called the stamen 

Diagram showing the main parts of a mature flowers





Today my class is in the afternoon with Lisa Short. She emphasis on Plant Identification under the topic of Flowers. She brought some Lily (Lilium longiflorum)  flowers to experiment the individual parts by cutting them and see through magnify glass or mircoscopes.


Flowering plants (Angiosperms)

The flowering plants are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by the series of characteristics. These characteristics include flowers and the production of fruits that contain the seeds. The characteristics feature of angiosperms is the flower. Flowers show remarkable variation in form and elaboration and provide the most trustworthy external characteristics for establishing relationships among angiosperms and ensure fertilization of the ovule and development of fruit containing seeds.

Conifers (gymnosperms)

The gymnosperms are a group of seed-bearing plants that includes conifers, cycads and ginkgo. Gymnosperm seeds develop either on the surface of scale or leaf-like appendages of cones, or the end of short stalks. By far largest group of living gymnosperm is the conifers (pines, cypresses and relatives). Conifers are woody plants and most are evergreens. Deciduous conifers include the dawn redwood, swamp, cypress and larch.

1] Campanulate - bell shaped

2] Funnel form - funnel shaped

3] Trumpet shaped

4] Salvi form - tube opening out

5] Tubular

6] Urceolate - Urn shaped

7] Bowl shaped

8] Saucer shaped

9] Stellate - Star shaped

10] Cruciform

11] Labiate (Stem are often square and mouth shaped)

12] Papilionaceous (butterfly like flower)

13] Ligulate (spike like) eg sunflower

Individual flower sexuality

Bisexual or perfect flowers have both male and female flowers reproductive structure. These are often called androgynous or hermaphroditic. Examples of plants with perfect of bisexual flowers include the lily, rose and most plants with large showy flowers.

Unisexual - Reproduction structure that is either functionally male or functionally female. In angiosperms this condition is also commonly called an imperfect or incomplete flower.

For examples, the two subclasses of flowering plants may be distinguished by the number of floral organs in each whorl : dicotyledons typically having 4 or 5 organs (or a multiple of 4 or 5) in each whorl and monocotyledons having three or some multiple of three.

Weather  : Light Rain Temperature 5 degrees Celsius 

Humidity 80%