Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Floral symmetry describes whether, and how, a flower, in particular its perianth, can be divided into two or more identical or mirror-image parts. Uncommonly, flowers may have no axis of symmetry at all, typically because their parts are spirally arranged.
Symmetry in biology refers to the symmetry observed in organisms, including plants, animals, fungi, and bacteria. External symmetry can be easily seen by just looking at an organism. For example, the face of a human being has a plane of symmetry down its centre, or a pine cone displays a clear symmetrical spiral pattern.
Animals mainly have bilateral or mirror symmetry, as do the leaves of plants and some flowers such as orchids. [30] Plants often have radial or rotational symmetry, as do many flowers and some groups of animals such as sea anemones. Fivefold symmetry is found in the echinoderms, the group that includes starfish, sea urchins, and sea lilies. [31]
Diagram of flower parts. In botany, floral morphology is the study of the diversity of forms and structures presented by the flower, which, by definition, is a branch of limited growth that bears the modified leaves responsible for reproduction and protection of the gametes, called floral pieces.
Pelorism is the term, said to be first used by Charles Darwin, for the formation of 'peloric flowers' [1] which botanically is the abnormal production of radially symmetrical (actinomorphic) flowers in a species that usually produces bilaterally symmetrical (zygomorphic) flowers. [2] These flowers are spontaneous floral symmetry mutants.
The symmetric group on a set of size n is the Galois group of the general polynomial of degree n and plays an important role in Galois theory. In invariant theory, the symmetric group acts on the variables of a multi-variate function, and the functions left invariant are the so-called symmetric functions.
Homogamy is used in biology in four separate senses: Inbreeding can be referred to as homogamy. [1] Homogamy refers to the maturation of male and female reproductive organs (of plants) at the same time, which is also known as simultaneous or synchronous hermaphrodism and is the antonym of dichogamy. Many flowers appear to be homogamous but some ...
For example, flower symmetry, nectar production, floral structure, and inflorescences are just a few of the many secondary sex characteristics acted upon by sexual selection. Sexual dimorphisms and reproductive organs can also be affected by sexual selection in flowering plants.