Flowers Tulips Semper Augustus Tulip Current Broken Tulip

Flowers

Tulips

Semper Augustus Tulip

Current Broken Tulip

Queen of the Night Tulip

Wild Rose

Yellow rose – many “petals” are actually modified sterile “petalloid” stamens

Helleborus – five separate carpels

Malus – crab apple – typical flower structure

Flower Shapes • regular/ radially symmetrical/actinmorphic - mirror images • irregular/bilaterally symmetrical /zygomorphic - only one mirror image - peas, mints

Flower Shapes Regular/Actinomorphic Irregular/Zygomorphic

Flower Sexuality, etc. • monoecious - separate flowers for male and female both on one plant – corn • dioecious - male and female plants are separate - separate sexes - gingko • Perfect flower - flower has stamens and carpels – bisexual flowers • Imperfect flower - lacks either stamens or carpels - will be staminate or carpellate (pistillate) • Complete - has sepals, petals, stamens and carpels • Incomplete - lacking one of the 4 main flower parts

Jatropha – monoecious but insect pollinated

Willows - Dioecious

Complete Flower

Incomplete Flower – Panic Grass

Inflorescence • Often flowers, especially small flowers, are gathered into a structure known as an inflorescence – an aggregation of flowers on a single flowering branch • Bract - more or less modified leaf that subtends flower or inflorescence- bract can look like normal leaf • Bract can also look like petal - petaloid

Dogwood with petalloid leafy bracts

Types of Inflorescence 1. Racemous or indeterminant - youngest flower at apex - in theory could produce flowers forever - some may by fruiting while apex still flowering - include - racemes, panicle, spike, corymb, head, umbel, catkin 2. Cymose or determinant - oldest flowers at apex - moving down younger flowers - cyme, scorpiod cyme

Larkspur inflorescence – a raceme

Wild parsnip – umbel inflorescence

Sunflower – Composite head inflorescence

Borage Inflorescence – A scorpiod cyme

Skunk cabbage inflorescence – with spathe and spadix

Pollination syndromes among the phloxes

Beetle Pollination • Several modern plant species are pollinated largely or exclusively by beetles - beetles were probably the first important group of insect pollinators • Beetle flowers - large, borne singly - Magnolia, some lilies, California poppies, and wild roses • or small and in inflorescence - dogwood, elders, parsley • Beetles have quite a well-developed sense of smell and their flowers are often quite odoriferous - fruity, spicy or foul odors such as from fermentation • Flowers often white or dully colored • Often produce large amounts of pollen, some produce a little nectar, beetles chew directly on petals of some

Magnolia – beetle pollinated

Bee and Wasp Pollination • Most important group of flower pollinators • Bees and wasps have mouthparts, body hairs and other appendages that allow them to efficiently collect and carry pollen and nectar • 20, 000 species of bees - most pollinate flowers • Bees highly visual - don’t see red, but do see ultraviolet as a color • Bee flowers - typically have showy, brightly colored petals, often blue or yellow - never pure red • Have patterns called nectar guides which direct bees to pollen and nectar - often in UV color • Nectaries usually at base of corolla tube, produce large amounts of nectar, concentrated nectar - up to 70% sugar • Petals often have landing platform for bees

Honeybee covered with pollen

Scotch broom – bee pollinated

Honeybee pollinating beebalm – Monarda sp.

With visible light with UV light Nectar guides for honeybees

Fly Pollination • can flower during day or night • color highly variable, but will be purple-brown or greenish for carrion and dung flies • often very strong odors – smelling of decay for carrion flies • usually fairly open flowers, but some have deep traps to keep flies inside for a night • usually no reward but some provide pollen or nectar

Cyrtid fly pollinating a composite

Caralluma – carrion fly pollinated

Butterfly and Moth Pollination • Butterfly and moth flowers similar to bee flowers because moths and butterflies also guided to flowers by combination of sight and smell • Some butterflies can see red, so often have red or orange color flower • Nectary is often at bottom of long, slender corolla tube or a nectar spur - only accessible to long sucking probocis of moths and butterflies • Nectar is copious, but not so concentrated - often 25% sugar • Moths are nocturnal so many of their flowers emit heavy fragrance at night, often pale or white in color - scent is sweet and penetrating

Erysimum – butterfly pollinated

Episcia – moth pollinated

Bird Pollination • Bird pollinated flowers produce copious, thin nectar - often about 25% sugar, often very high in sucrose - may actually drip with nectar • Usually have little odor because birds have poor sense of smell • Birds see red and bird pollinated flowers often very colorful with reds and yellows - red columbine, fuchsia, passion flower, hibicus, poinsettia, many cactus and orchids • The flowers are usually large or part of large inflorescence • Nectar usually held in long tubes that other animals can’t reach

Hummingbird pollination

Ipomopsis aggregata – hummingbird pollinated

Greater double-collared sunbird

Proteus – pollinated by perching birds

Bat Pollination • About 250 species of bat (25%) include some pollen, nectar or fruit in their diet - many pollinate flowers as part of their feeding • Bat flowers are similar to bird flowers - large, strong flower which produces copious nectar - Often dull colored because open at night - may only open at night • Often have very strong fermenting or fruitlike odors, may be musky odors too • Bat flowers often hang down below foliage to enable bats to easily get to the flower • Banana, mango, sisal and kapok flowers pollinated by bats

Bat pollination

Wind Pollination • Usually have dull colors, relatively odorless, do not produce nectar, petals small or absent, sexes often separated • Wind pollinated flowers are most common in temperate areas where large stands of single species of plant occur • With trees, wind pollination occurs in spring before leaves have emerged - usually have well exposed stamens to shed pollen to wind and stigma also exposed - often with feathery outgrowths to catch pollen • Often the plants have various mechanisms to promote out-crossing - separate sexes - dioecious - willows, poplars • unisexual flowers on same tree - monoecious - oaks, birches • Self-incompatible - grasses • Flowers are typically small, have single ovule per flower - however have many flowers borne in inflorescences and multiple inflorescences

Box elder – wind pollinated – female left, male right

Wild oats – Whole plant

Wild oat flower – close up

Cottonwood Catkins Male Female