Sunday 5 February 2012

Is Sunflower an Inflorescence or a simple flower?

Sunflower is an inflorescence. Even though the flower appears to be a single flower but it formed of so many floral units or small flowers called 'florets'.  The florets present in Sunflower are of two kinds- (a) Disc florets present at the center of the flower and (b) Ray florets present at the periphery of the flower. The disc florets are bisexual in nature whereas ray florets are unisexual or female or sometimes neutral in nature. In this inflorescence the peduncle is highly condensed to form a disc shaped receptacle on which the florets are arranged  in a centripetal (develops from periphery to inwards)  fashion. This type of inflorescence is known as Heterogamous Head or Capitulum or Anthodium inflorescence. This inflorescence is most commonly found in Asteraceae family. The scientific name of Sunflower is Helianthus annus.

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