Fruits, Flowers, and Seeds
FLOWERS
-are the reproductive structure of angiosperms
-a stem tip that bears some or all of the following kinds of
appendages on a receptacle: sepals, petals, stamens, and
Pistil
-are reproductive shoot composed of whorls of
modified leaves inserted into a modified stem
PARTS OF FLOWERS
Peduncle – the stalk of a flower
Receptacle – the part of a flower stalk where the parts of the flower are
attached
Sepal – the outer part of the flower that enclose a developing bud
Petal – the parts of a flower that are often conspicuously colored
Stamen- the pollen producing part of a flower, usually with a slender filament
supporting the anther
Anther – the part of the stamen where pollen is produced
Pistil – the ovule producing part of a flower, the ovary often supports a long
style
topped by a stigma
Stigma – the part of the pistil where pollen germinates
Ovary – the enlarged basal portion of the pistil where ovules are produced
TYPES OF FLOWER
COMPLETED FLOWER
- has all parts
needed for
reproduction
INCOMPLETE FLOWER
- do not have
one or more
parts needed for
Reproduction
PERFECT FLOWER
- a flower that has both an
androecium and a gynoecium
Examples:
Apples
Cherries
Legumes
IMPERFECT FLOWER
- flowers that are only
carpellate or staminate
Examples
Squash
Cucumber
Corn
MONOECIOUS
- plants with male and female flowers on one plant
Examples:Corn, Cucumber, Oak
DIOECIOUS - plants with male and female flowers on separate plants
Examples:Soybean, Asparagus, Kiwi, hemp
Types of Inflorescence
Spike - an elongate, unbranched, indeterminate inflorescence with sessile
flowers.
Spikelet - a small spike, characteristic of grasses and sedges.
Raceme - an elongate, unbranched, indeterminate inflorescence with
pedicelled flowers.
Panicle - a branched raceme.
Corymb - a flat-topped raceme with elongate pedicels reaching the same
level. Compound Corymb - a
branched corymb.
Umbel - a flat-topped or rounded inflorescence with the pedicels originating
from a common point.
Umbels can be determinate or indeterminate.
Compound Umbel - a branched umbel, with primary rays arising from a
common point, and secondary
umbels arising from the tip of the primary rays
Capitulum (or head) - a dense vertically compressed inflorescence with
sessile flowers on a receptacle
and subtended by an involucre of phyllaries, characteristic of the Asteraceae.
Heads can be determinate
or indeterminate.
Thyrse - a many-flowered inflorescence with an indeterminate central axis and
many opposite, lateral
dichasia; a mixed inflorescence, with determinate and indeterminate shoots.
SEEDS
The seed is the embryonic stage of the plant life cycle. Most
seeds consist of three parts: embryo, endosperm, and seed
coat. The embryo is a tiny plant that has a root, a stem, and
one or more leaves. The endosperm is the nutritive tissue of
the seed, often a combination of starch, oil, and protein. The
seed coat is a protective covering that can help seeds remain
viable for long periods of time.
Structure of Seed
Ovules - develop into seeds
Cotyledons – food storage organs that function as
“seed leaves”
Embryo- cotyledons and plantlet
Pumule- embryo shoot
Epicotyl- stem above cotyledon attachment
Hypocotyl- stem below cotyledon attachment
Radicle- tip of embryo that develops into root
Epigenous germination
-Hypocotyl lengthens,
bends and becomes
hook shaped
-Top of rock emerges
from ground, pulling
cotyledons above
Ground
Hypogenous germination
-Hypocotyl remains short
and cotyledons do not
emerge above surface
Germination
Beginning or resumption of seed growth
Some require period of dormancy
Brought about by mechanical or physiological factors including growth
inhibiting
substances present in seed coat or fruit
Break dormancy by mechanical abrasion, thawing and freezing, bacterial
action or
soaking rains
Scarification- artificially breaking dormancy
After ripening- embryo composed of only few cells when fruit ripens; seeds
will not
germinate until embryo develops
Favorable environmental factors needed for germination:
Water and oxygen
Light or its absence
Proper temperature range
Enzymes in the cytoplasm begin to function after water is imbibed
LONGEVITY
-Seed viability varies, depending on species and storage conditions
-Viability extended
- At low temperature
- When kept dry
FRUITS
the fleshy or dry ripened
ovary of a flowering plant,
enclosing the seed or seeds.
Types of Fruits
1. Simple Fruit - A type of fruit that develops from a single or compound
ovary with
only one pistil (of a single flower)
Simple fruits are either fleshy or dry:
a. Fleshy fruits are those fruits in which part or all of the pericarp is
fleshy at maturity.
Examples are:
berries (i.e. fruits in which the entire pericarp is soft and pulpy, e.g.
Grapes, tomatoes,
bananas, pepo, hesperidium, blueberry, etc.) drupes (i.e. fruits with
pulpy, fibrous, or
leathery outer layers while the endocarp hardens into a pit or stone
enclosing one or
more seeds, e.g. Peach, cherry, olive, coconut, walnut, etc.)
b. Dry fruits may either be dehiscent (i.e. the hard or papery shells split
open to release
the mature seed, e.g. pods of the pea and bean), or indehiscent (i.e.
fruits that do not split
open, e.g. milkweed, achenes, etc).
2. Aggregate Fruit - or etaerio is a fruit that develops from the merger of
several
ovaries that were separated in a single flower. In contrast, a simple fruit
develops from
one ovary.
Common examples are:
Drupelets:
o Raspberry
o Dewberry and blackberry, also an accessory fruit, with a fleshy
receptacle
Achenes:
o Strawberry, also an accessory fruit, with a fleshy receptacle
o Ranunculus
Follicles:
o Magnolia
Samaras:
o Liriodendron tulipifera
3. Multiple Fruit- also called collective fruits, are fruiting bodies formed
from a cluster
of fruiting flowers, the inflorescence. Each flower in the inflorescence
produces a fruit,
but these mature into a single mass in which each flower has produced
a true fruit.
Examples are the fig, pineapple, mulberry, osage-orange, and jackfruit
