Introduction
Today, we will be discussing common flower parts and their adaptations. In this article, we will be looking at how a flower’s parts have adapted to aid in the process of reproduction.
For this topic, we will be analysing a question on the topic of Adaptations from the 2017 CHIJ St. Nicholas Girls’ School (SNGS) P6 SA2 Examination Paper.
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Let’s Take A Look At This Question
Source: CHIJ St. Nicholas Girls’ School – 2017 P6 SA2 Examination Paper [Q29]
Let’s Analyse Part (A)
Kenny labelled the parts of a flower using the letters P, Q, R, S, T and U as shown in the diagram below.
Source: CHIJ St. Nicholas Girls’ School – 2017 P6 SA2 Examination Paper [Q29]
⭐ Tip When Answering Questions With Unlabelled Parts ⭐
Whenever you see a question where there are unlabelled parts, the first thing you should always do is to label them.
Let’s identify the parts on the diagram.
- Part P is the style.
- Part Q is the petals.
- Part R is the stigma.
- Part S is the anther.
- Part T is the filament. (You can see that this part is holding the anther up.)
- Part U is the ovary.
Let’s take a look at all of them. Which are the parts of the flower that are its female parts? We know that it is the style, the stigma, and the ovary. Now, what about the petals? Are the petals a female part? No.
🥀 Are Petals Male Or Female? 🥀
The petals are neither male nor female parts. They are just a part of the flower.
Since we now know that the style, stigma and ovary are the female parts, what about the anther and the filament? The anther and the filament must be the male parts of the flower then.
For Part (A), can you write down the answer as “style, stigma, and ovary”? No.
Look at Part (A) carefully. What did they ask us to write down? They told us to write down the letters of the parts that represent the female parts.
Suggested Answer For Part (A)
Parts P, R, and U.
Let’s Analyse Part (B)
Source: CHIJ St. Nicholas Girls’ School – 2017 P6 SA2 Examination Paper [Q29]
Let’s recall, what is Part Q again? Part Q is the petals of the flower. What is the purpose of a flower’s large and brightly coloured petals?
When something is large and very brightly coloured, it attracts or catches attention. With this flower, what do you think the large and brightly coloured petals are attracting? They are trying to attract pollinators.
What are examples of pollinators? Some examples are birds and insects.
The large and brightly coloured petals attract pollinators, but how does this help the plant in its reproduction?
When the petals attract pollinators, like birds and insects, they obtain the nectar for themselves. Where is the nectar located in the flower? Nectar is located in the nectaries, which are deep inside the flower.
Pollination and Fertilisation
Let’s see what happens when a bee visits the flower.
When the bee visits the flower to get the nectar that is located deep inside, its body is going to brush past the anther. When it brushes past the anther, pollen grains can get stuck to its body.
Do you think the bee will be content in getting nectar from one flower? No, it is going to visit other flowers to get nectar as well.
When the bee visits another flower of the same species, its body can brush past the stigma. When it brushes past the stigma, what do you think is going to happen?
As we’ve discussed earlier, pollen grains were stuck on the bee’s body. When the bee’s body brushes past the stigma, these same pollen grains can get transferred to the stigma on this new flower. When pollen grains land on the stigma, what process is this called? It is known as pollination.
When certain flower parts attract pollinators, we know that pollination will likely take place. After pollination takes place, what other process can occur? Fertilisation can occur!
Both pollination and fertilisation will take place, which are indicated by the letters P and F respectively. After fertilisation has taken place, what do you think would happen to the flower? The flower will develop into a fruit.
How does the flower developing into a fruit help the plant in reproduction?
What does a fruit contain? A fruit contains seeds.
Under the right conditions, they will germinate into a young plant and then the life cycle of the flowering plant will continue.
Suggested Answer For Part (B)
The brightly coloured Part Q attracts pollinators such as birds and insects. When their bodies brush against the anthers of the flower, the pollen grains will be stuck to their bodies. When the animal flies to another flower of the same species, the pollen grains stuck on its body will be transferred to the stigma of the flower allowing pollination to occur. Fertilisation would then take place and the flower would develop into a fruit.
Let’s Analyse Part (C)
Source: CHIJ St. Nicholas Girls’ School – 2017 P6 SA2 Examination Paper [Q29]
To answer this question, let’s take a look at what happened to the fruits before they turned bright red and juicy. We can see that the fruits were small and they were green in colour. Think about this: when the fruits are small, do you think they are fully developed? The answer is no.
📍 Underdeveloped Fruits 📍
Fruits that are not fully developed are unripe.
Can you think of fruits that are green in colour when they are unripe? Some good examples include the banana and the papaya fruit.
What do you think happens to the fruit when the fruit is unripe? Fruits contain seeds. If the fruit is unripe, do you think that the seeds inside have fully developed? The answer is no.
When the seeds are not fully developed, is it a good idea to disperse the seeds for them to grow yet? No. In fact, when the seeds are not fully developed, they cannot germinate.
How does the fruit being small and green in colour help to prevent the seeds from being dispersed?
When fruits ripen, they are going to turn bright red and juicy. This is going to attract animals to feed on it, which means the seeds will most likely get dispersed by these animals.
When the fruits are small and green in colour, how does that stop the animals from feeding on the fruits?
Which part of the plant is also green in colour? It is the leaves.
If the green-coloured fruit and the green-coloured leaves are together, do you think the animals can spot the fruit easily? No.
🌟 Green Fruits Camouflage With Green Leaves 🌟
When the green-coloured fruit blends in with the green-coloured leaves, camouflage occurs. 😶🌫️
When the green-coloured fruits camouflage with the green-coloured leaves, do you think the animals can spot the fruit easily? No.
This camouflage prevents animals from spotting the fruit easily. If the animals cannot spot the fruit easily, they won’t be able to feed on the seeds.
As a result, this prevents the immature seeds from being dispersed. If the immature seeds are not being dispersed, will they die? No.
Suggested Answer For Part (C)
When the fruit is unripe, it will remain green to camouflage with the leaves. This is to prevent animals from spotting the fruit easily and feeding on it, dispersing the immature seeds that will die if eaten by animals.
Conclusion
It is interesting to see how different parts of a flower are adapted to aid its reproduction. I hope this article has been an informative read for you!
Check out our other articles on Adaptations and continue to keep a lookout for more articles! 🙂
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