Question

Ophrys sphegodes, the early spider orchid, has flowers with yellow-green sepals and petals and one highly modified, velvety brown central petal at the base of the flower. There is single male anther is found at the tip of the column. The stigma is on the underside of the column just below the anther.
Required:
a. Is the flower complete or incomplete?
b. Is the flower perfect or imperfect?
c. Is the flower radially or bilaterally symmetrical?

Answer 1

Answer and Explanation:

a. This is a complete flower. Complete flowers are those formed by chalice, corolla, androecium and gynoecium. In the case of the flower presented above, we can see that it has gynoecium because it has a stigma that is part of the gynoecium composition. We can also see that she has androecium, because she has an anther that is part of the composition of androecium. The flower also has a corolla and chalice, since the chalice is formed by the sepals and the corolla by the petals.

b. This is a perfect flower, as we can see that androecium and gynoecium are present in the same flower. Imperfect flowers are those with only androecium or gynoecium.

c. The flower has bilateral symmetry, which is common in all orchids. This type of symmetry allows the flower to only be divided into two equal parts. Radial symmetry, on the other hand, allows flowers to be divided into many equal parts.