Take one flower each of the families Fabaceae and Solanaceae and write its semi-technical description. Also draw their floral diagram after studying them.
What is a flower? Describe the parts of a typical angiosperm flower
Flower is a modified shoot. It is the reproductive unit of the plant. It is the means of sexual reproduction.
A typical flower
Each flower usually has four whorls arranged successively on the swollen end of the receptacle called the thalamus. The parts of a typical flower are :
i. Calyx – It forms the outermost whorl of a flower and contains sepals. Sepals are green, leaf-like structures that cover and protect the flowers during the bud stage. When the sepals of a flower are free, they are called polysepalous, when fused sepals they are called gamosepalous.
ii. Corolla – It is the layer that lies inside the calyx. It contains petals which brightly coloured and help in attracting insects for pollination. When the petals are free, they are called polypetalous, while fused petals are called gamopetalous. Shape of corolla varies in different plants and may tubular. Bell shaped, funnel shaped or wheel shaped.
iii. Androecium – It is the male reproductive part of a flower. It is composed of stamens. A stamen has a stalk or filament and an anther. Each anther is bilobed, with each lobe having two chambers called the pollen sacs. The pollen sacs have the male gamete or the pollen grains.