Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Ovary (Botany) : Pistil
Ovary (Botany) : Pistil
Longitudinal section of female flower of squash showing pistil (=ovary+style+stigma), ovules, and
petals. The petals and sepals are above the ovary; such a flower is said to have an inferior ovary,
or the flower is said to be epigynous.
Contents
[hide]
1Fruits
3.1Superior ovary
3.2Half-inferior ovary
3.3Inferior ovary
4See also
5References
Fruits[edit]
A fruit is the ripened ovary or ovariestogether with seedsfrom one or more flowers. The fruits of a
plant are responsible for dispersing the seeds that contain the embryo and protecting the seeds as well.
In many species, the fruit incorporates some surrounding tissues, or is dispersed with some non-fruit
tissues.
The syncarpous ovary of this melon is made up of four carpels, and has one locule.
The seeds in a tomato fruit grow from placental areas at the interior of the ovary. (This is axile
placentation in a bi-locular fruit.)
The placentae in Lunariaare along the margins of the fruit, where two carpels fuse. (This is
parietal placentation in a bi-locular fruit.)
The valves of Lunariafruit fall to reveal a septum that was between the two carpels of the
ovary.
Superior ovary[edit]
A superior ovary is an ovary attached to the receptacle above the attachment of other floral parts. A
superior ovary is found in types of fleshy fruits such as true berries, drupes, etc. A flower with this
arrangement is described as hypogynous. Examples of this ovary type include the legumes (beans and
peas and their relatives).
Half-inferior ovary[edit]
A half-inferior ovary (also known as half-superior, subinferior, or partially inferior,) is embedded or
surrounded by the receptacle.[3] This occurs in flowers of the Lythraceae family, which includes the Crape
Myrtles. Such flowers are termed perigynous or half-epigynous. In some classifications, half-inferior
ovaries are not recognized and are instead grouped with either the superior or inferior ovaries.
More specifically, a half-inferior ovary has nearly equal portions of ovary above and below the insertion
point. Other varying degrees of inferiority can be described by other fractions. For instance, a "one-fifth
inferior ovary" has approximately one fifth of its length under the insertion point. Likewise, only one
quarter portion of a "three-quarters inferior ovary" is above the insertion.
Inferior ovary[edit]
An inferior ovary lies below the attachment of other floral parts. A pome is a type of fleshy fruit that is
often cited as an example, but close inspection of some pomes (such as Pyracantha) will show that it is
really a half-inferior ovary. Flowers with inferior ovaries are termed epigynous. Some examples of
flowers with an inferior ovary are orchids (inferior capsule), Fuchsia (inferior berry), banana (inferior
berry), Asteraceae (inferior achene-like fruit, called a cypsela) and the pepo of the squash, melon and
gourd (Cucurbitaceae) family.
See also[edit]
Fruit anatomy
References[edit]
1.
Jump up^ Hickey, M.; King, C. (2001), The Cambridge Illustrated Glossary of
Botanical Terms, Cambridge University Press
2.
Jump up^ Soltis, Douglas E.; Fishbein, Mark; Kuzoff, Robert K. (2003).
"Evolution of Epigyny". International Journal of Plant Sciences. 164 (S5): S251
S264. doi:10.1086/376876.
3.
Jump up^ Soltis, Douglas E.; Hufford, Larry (2002). "Ovary Position Diversity in
Saxifragaceae". International Journal of Plant Sciences. 163 (2): 277
293. doi:10.1086/324528.