Flower and Leaf Characteristics

1
Flower and Leaf Characteristics Identification
2
Flowers Flowers are arranged together into flower
clusters, or inflorescences. There are four basic
parts of a flower. The sepals are the outermost
part of the flower and are commonly green and
leaf-like in texture, although in some species
they are colored and petal-like. Collectively,
the sepals are called the calyx. The petals are
positioned inward from the sepals and are
commonly colored and delicate in texture. Petals
usually attract pollinators to the flower.
Collectively, the petals are called the corolla,
and the sepals and petals together are called the
perianth. The stamens are inward from the
petals and are the "male" reproductive parts of
the flower. A stamen usually consists of the
anther, which contains the pollen, and a stalk
called the filament. Collectively, the stamens
are called the androecium. The pistil occupies
the central position in a flower and is the
"female" reproductive part. It consists of a
terminal stigma, which is often sticky, the
function of which is to receive the pollen a
style and at the base, an ovary, which contains
one or more ovules. Collectively, all the pistils
in one flower are called the gynoecium.
3
Flower
FRUITS A fruit is the ripened ovary of a flower,
and a seed is the matured ovule. In many prairie
plants, what at first appears to be a "seed" is
in fact a whole fruit that contains a single
seed these are usually a fruit type called an
achene. Another fruit type is a capsule, which
splits open to release the several to many seeds.
4
Leaves
Leaves are lateral appendages on a stem. They
usually serve as the primary photosynthetic
surface of the plant. Leaves commonly consist
of a flattened portion, the blade, joined to the
stem by a stalk, or petiole, at which junction an
axillary bud can be found. In addition, there may
be two stipules (scale-like or leaf-like
structures) at the base of the petiole.
5
Leaf Arrangement
Leaf Types / Complexity
6
Leaf Shapes
7
Leaf Margins
8
Leaf Tips
9
Leaf Bases
10

• achene a one-seeded fruit that does not split
  open
• alkaloid a chemical compound found in plants
  that contain nitrogen, often used in medicines,
  drugs, or as a poison
• allelopathic the suppression of growth of one
  plant species due to the release of chemical
  substances by another species
• calcareous fen a wetland habitat where the
  water is alkaline
• capsule a dry fruit that opens along two or
  more slits to release the seeds
• corm a short, vertical, swollen underground
  stem of a plant that stores food over the winter
  and produces new foliage in the spring.
• degraded prairie a prairie that has been
  severely disturbed so that many non-native plants
  occur and only some plants of the original
  prairie remain
• forb a nongrass-like wildflower found in a
  prairie
• glade an opening in a forest with bedrock on or
  near the surface and with prairie plants

11

• high quality prairie a prairie that has had
  little disturbance and
• inflorescence a cluster or group of flowers
• mesic prairie a prairie where the soil is moist
  for much of the growing season the most typical
  kind of prairie found in Illinois prior to
  European settlement
• pod a follicle, a dry fruit that opens by one
  slit to release the seeds
• prairie a habitat where the plants are mostly
  grasses and forbs
• rhizome a horizontal stem that is underground,
  sometimes thickened and forming an overwintering
  structure
• savanna a habitat with widely spaced trees and
  a ground cover of grasses and forbs
• transpiration the evaporation of water vapor
  from leaves of plants