Flower Diversity

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Flower Diversity

• The Division of Anthophyta (Magnoliophyta) is the
  most diverse of all plant kingdom divisions
• Very many ways of being a flower exist, and many
  of these are found in the world
• This will be a quick tour of diversity, later we
  will discuss the specifics

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Raflesia arnoldi flower. The diameter can reach
91 cm! Found in Indonesia.
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Flower bud of Raflesia arnoldi Notice the 3
inch pocket knife!
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Raflesia as the bud begins to open
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A small Raflesia, in the tropical forests of
Indonesia
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Argemone polyanthemos prickly poppy
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Asarum canadensis wild ginger
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Asarum plant. Notice the flower down near the
base!
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Iris versicolor The stigma branches are highly
modified in this flower
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Calypso bulbosa This orchid grows in mountainous
areas of the west
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Cypripedium another orchid with a large bulbous
petal involved in pollination
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Cattleya orchid
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Dendrobium orchid
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This is an extremely modified inflorescence of
the Euphorbia family The ball like structure is
a female flower rising out of what appears to be
the flower!
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Euphorbia obesa, another euphorb, this one native
to desert areas
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Grasses have flowers too This is Agropyron
dasystachium a wheat grass. Notice the anthers
hanging out
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Some grasses like bamboo produce huge stems which
can be used in home construction and
scaffolding. The stems are hollow for most of the
length, but at each node the side walls extend
nearly to close off the space.
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Impatiens capensis This is often called
touch-me-not Notice the fruit hanging to the
left
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Not much can beat the Magnolia flower!
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Nelumbo lutea The lotus The next slide will show
an older flower Watch the change in the gynoecium
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• The last slides suggests the changes in the
  female part of the flower as it ripens.
• Next slides will show a few fruits that result
  from a mature flower

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Pineapple fruit Pineapples grow as a small shrub
about 2.5 feet tall in tropical areas
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Calycanthus, a shrub, often called allspice
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• Papaver somniferum the seeds are used as poppy
  seeds, the latex gives us opium

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Flowers are arranged in Inflorescences

• Many types of inflorescences exist
• From simple to very complex
• We will discuss these later, but for now look at
  one example from the tropics of Indonesia

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Amorphopallus titanum This kind of
inflorescence is called a spadix. The group of
small flowers in the spadix appears to be a
single flower, in this case nearly 4 feet tall!