{"id":7883,"date":"2017-11-26T12:03:04","date_gmt":"2017-11-26T11:03:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/afabego.fr\/?page_id=7883"},"modified":"2022-01-31T23:48:48","modified_gmt":"2022-01-31T22:48:48","slug":"linflorescence-et-les-fleurs","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/afabego.fr\/en\/culture\/un-peu-de-botanique\/linflorescence-et-les-fleurs\/","title":{"rendered":"A little botany: Inflorescence and flowers"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Rather than exhaustively reviewing the botanical characters of the inflorescences and flowers of plants in the genus\u00a0Begonia<\/em>, I thought it more useful, and less tedious, to describe in detail a few characteristic inflorescences of this vast genus; the specific vocabulary is explained on this first page and illustrated with photos.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Two important remarks\u00a0:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

In the genus Begonia:<\/p>\n

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  • Flower characters play a decisive role in assigning a plant to a section and identifying a species.<\/li>\n
  • Male and female flowers are always separate.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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    Vocabulary<\/h3>\n

    Inflorescence<\/h4>\n
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    • Axillary inflorescence:<\/strong> an inflorescence arising from the leaf axil.<\/li>\n
    • Monochasial inflorescence <\/strong>or uniparous cyme: an inflorescence is called monochasial or a uniparous cyme when every axis ends in a single flower.<\/li>\n
    • Dichasial inflorescence <\/strong>or\u00a0biparous cyme<\/strong>\u00a0: an inflorescence in which each axis produces two opposite axes.<\/li>\n
    • Raceme<\/strong>\u00a0or Cluster<\/strong>\u00a0: an inflorescence of stalked flowers attached at different levels, the oldest at the base.<\/li>\n
    • Few-flowered inflorescence<\/strong>\u00a0: an inflorescence with few flowers.<\/li>\n
    • Bisexual inflorescence<\/strong>\u00a0: the inflorescence has both male and female flowers.<\/li>\n
    • Unisexual inflorescence<\/strong>\u00a0: the inflorescence has flowers of only one sex.<\/li>\n
    • Dioecious plant<\/strong>\u00a0: male and female flowers are on different plants.<\/li>\n
    • Monoecious plant<\/strong>\u00a0: male and female flowers are found on the same plant<\/li>\n
    • Bracts\u00a0<\/strong>: modified leaves attached at the base of a peduncle or of one of its branches (when it is branched), which protect the inflorescence before it opens.<\/li>\n
    • Bracteoles<\/strong> : <\/strong><\/b>small bracts on the peduncle between the bracts and the female flowers<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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      Flowers<\/h4>\n
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      • Pedicels<\/strong>\u00a0: the stalks that bear each flower<\/li>\n
      • Peduncle<\/strong>\u00a0: the stalk that bears the inflorescence<\/li>\n
      • Segments or tepals<\/strong>\u00a0: in the genus\u00a0Begonia\u00a0<\/em>the petals and sepals look alike although they are different, so we use the term segments or tepals (although \u201ctepals\u201d suggests they are identical); they are called outer or inner depending on where they are attached.<\/li>\n
      • Perianth <\/strong>: all the tepals together.<\/li>\n
      • Sessile <\/strong>: a flower is sessile when it has no peduncle or pedicel.<\/li>\n
      • Protandrous<\/strong>\u00a0: describes a plant whose stamens release pollen before the stigmas are receptive.<\/li>\n
      • Protogynous<\/strong>\u00a0: describes a plant whose stigmas are receptive before the stamens release pollen<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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        Male flower<\/h4>\n
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        • Stamen \/ anther \/ pollen sac \/ filament \/ connective <\/strong>: a stamen is the organ of the male flower where pollen is formed; it consists of an anther with locules or pollen sacs containing the pollen, and a filament bearing the anther; the tissue joining the pollen sacs is called the connective.<\/li>\n
        • Androecium<\/strong>\u00a0: all the stamens together.<\/li>\n
        • Actinomorphic<\/strong>\u00a0: describes the stamens as a whole when they show radial symmetry (about an axis).<\/li>\n
        • Zygomorphic<\/strong>\u00a0: describes the stamens as a whole when they are symmetrical about a plane (bilateral symmetry); in this case the stamens usually point in the same direction, like a bunch of bananas<\/li>\n
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              Female flower<\/h4>\n
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              • Pistil:<\/strong>\u00a0the reproductive organ of the female flower, comprising the ovary and the styles bearing the stigmas.<\/li>\n
              • Stigmas<\/strong>\u00a0: the tip of the pistil, which captures pollen (called a stigmatic band when elongated).<\/li>\n
              • Styles<\/strong>\u00a0: narrowed parts of the ovary bearing the stigmas.<\/li>\n
              • Ovary \/ locules \/ ovules<\/strong>\u00a0: the ovary is the hollow part of the female reproductive organ, with several locules containing the ovules; the ovary is topped by the styles.<\/li>\n
              • Placenta<\/strong>\u00a0: a thickening of the walls of the ovary\u2019s locules, bearing the ovules (its shape within the locules and the way the ovules are arranged vary).<\/li>\n
              • Wings<\/strong>\u00a0: more or less spreading outer appendages of the ovary.<\/li>\n
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                    Miscellaneous<\/h4>\n
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                    • Apex<\/strong>\u00a0: tip.<\/li>\n
                    • Apical<\/strong>\u00a0: located at the tip or top.<\/li>\n
                    • Lanceolate<\/strong>\u00a0: elongated and pointed, widest towards the base<\/li>\n
                    • Oblanceolate<\/strong>\u00a0: lanceolate, but widest towards the apex.<\/li>\n
                    • Oblong<\/strong>\u00a0: clearly longer than wide.<\/li>\n
                    • Obovate<\/strong>\u00a0: egg-shaped, with the narrowest part at the point of attachment.<\/li>\n
                    • Dehiscence<\/strong>\u00a0: the opening of an anther or capsule (fruit); also the way these organs open to release pollen or seeds.<\/li>\n
                    • Serrulate<\/strong>\u00a0: having small teeth, like those of a saw.<\/li>\n
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                            Bibliography<\/h4>\n
                              \n
                            • Studies in Begoniaceae VII<\/strong>\u00a0\/ J.JF.E. de Wilde (Wageningen Agricultural University, 1998 \/ The Netherlands)<\/li>\n
                            • The sections of Begonia<\/strong>\u00a0\/ J. Doorenbos \u2013 M.S.M. Sosef \u2013 J.J.F.E. de Wilde (Backhuys Publishers 2002)<\/li>\n
                            • Dictionnaire illustr\u00e9 de Botanique (Illustrated Dictionary of Botany)<\/strong>\u00a0\/ A. Jouy \u2013 B. de Foucault (Biotope Editions 2016)<\/li>\n
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                              • <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Plut\u00f4t que de passer en revue, de fa\u00e7on exhaustive, les caract\u00e8res botaniques des inflorescences et des fleurs des plantes du genre\u00a0Begonia, il m\u2019a paru plus judicieux et moins fastidieux de d\u00e9crire de fa\u00e7on d\u00e9taill\u00e9e quelques inflorescences caract\u00e9ristiques de ce vaste genre ; le vocabulaire sp\u00e9cifique est d\u00e9taill\u00e9 dans cette premi\u00e8re page et illustr\u00e9 par des [...]","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":5477,"menu_order":4,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-7883","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/afabego.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7883","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/afabego.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/afabego.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afabego.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afabego.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7883"}],"version-history":[{"count":145,"href":"https:\/\/afabego.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7883\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10648,"href":"https:\/\/afabego.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7883\/revisions\/10648"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afabego.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5477"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/afabego.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}