FLOWER WHORLS

- A whorl or verticil is the arrangement of sepals, petals, leaves, stipules (small leaflike
appendages) or branches that comes from a single part and surrounds the stem.

FOUR MAJOR WHORLS

1. Calyx, a whorl of Sepals

2. Corolla, a whorl of Petals
3. Androecium, a whorl of Stamen (contains Anther and Filament)
4. Gynoecium, a whorl of Carpels or female parts of the plant: the Pistil which consists
the Stigma, Style, and Ovary(Ovule)

The Calyx

- Outermost whorl
- is the leaf-like structures at the base of a flower that protects the flower during
development
- These leaf-like structures are individually called Sepals and sometimes there are as much
sepals as there are petals.
- function is to protect the flower at its early stages by closing it tightly as a bud
- The sepals are the outer covering of the flower as it forms. It protects the developing flower
and prevents it from drying out.

The Corolla

- second whorl that is composed of the flower's petals

- The petals serve two purposes: to protect the reproductive organs of the flower and to
attract pollinators.
- Because of this second purpose, they are usually brightly colored and scented so that
animals and insects will come close to them and move around the flower's pollen.

Perianth

- first two whorls of the flower -- the calyx and the corolla

Aestivation

- Arrangement of sepals or petals in a floral bud

o Valvate
 the margin of the sepals/petals touch each other rather than overlap
o Twisted
 the margin of the sepals/petals overlap
o Imbricate
 the margin of the sepals/petals overlap in an irregular manner
o Vexillary
 a mode of aestivation in which one larger upper petal folds over, and cover,
the other smaller petals
The Androecium

- third whorl of a flower that contain stamens, the male reproductive part
- The stamen is made of a thin vertical thread-like structure called a filament topped with a
circular or oblong structure called an anther.
- The anther is bi-lobed each lobe consists of 2 chambers called pollen sacs which produces
pollen.
o Staminode, sterile stamen
o Polyandrous, free stamen
o Monoadelphous, if the stamens are united in one bunch
o Diadelphous, if the stamens are united in 2 bunches
o Polyadelphous, if the stamens are united in 3 or more bunches
- If the stamen attaches to the petals they are called as Epipetalous stamen.
- If the stamen attaches to the perianth they are called as Epiphyllous stamen.

The Gynoecium

- At the center of the flower is the fourth whorl -- the carpels, which contain the pistil of the
flower.
- The pistil is the plant's female reproductive organ, which is composed of three parts: the
ovary, the style, and the stigma.
- The ovary contains the eggs, or ovules (which are attached to a flattened cushion-like
structure called a placenta), of the plant, and when the ovules are fertilized, the ovary
sometimes turns into a fruit to house the seed.
- The top of the ovary leads to a vertical structure called a style, which supports the stigma.
- The stigma catches grains of pollen that the wind or pollinators disperse, and the pollen
grains travel down the style to the ovary.
- If the carpels are free they are called Apocaprous.
- If the carpels are united they are called Syncarpous.
- After Fertilization these ovules develop into seeds and the ovary develops into a fruit.

TYPES OF FLOWERS BASED ON THE PRESENCE OF THE WHORLS

• Complete - A flower is called complete if all four floral organs are present in the same flower
structure.

• Incomplete - An incomplete flower lacks any one or more of these parts.

TYPES OF FLOWERS BASED ON THE PRESENCE OF REPRODUCTIVE WHORLS

• Perfect/Bisexual or Hermaphrodite - are flowers that contain both sexual floral organs

• Imperfect/Unisexual - contain either stamen or pistil only, regardless if the whorl their
missing is either the calyx or corolla or both

-Staminate flower

-Carpellate flower

All complete flowers are also perfect. But not all perfect flowers are complete flowers. (Example:
Rice)