PETAL

:''For the petals of chakras, see Petal (chakra).''

A 'petal' (from Ancient Greek ''petalon'' "leaf", "thin plate"), regarded as a highly modified leaf, is one member or part of the corolla of a flower. The corolla is the name for all of the petals of a flower; the inner perianth whorl, term used when this is not the same in appearance (color, shape) as the outermost whorl (the calyx) and is used to attract pollinators based on its bright color. It is the inner part of the 'perianth' that comprises the sterile parts of a flower and consists of inner and outer 'tepals'. These tepals are usually differentiated into petals and sepals. The term "tepal" is usually applied when the petals and sepals are similar in shape and color. In a "typical" flower the petals are showy and colored and surround the reproductive parts. The number of petals in a flower (see 'merosity') is indicative of the plant's classification: eudicots (the largest group of dicots) having typically four or five petals and monocots and magnoliids having three, or some multiple of three, petals.^[1]
There exists considerable variation in form of petals among the flowering plants. The petals can be united towards the base, forming a 'floral tube'. In some flowers, the entire perianth forms a cup (called a 'calyx tube') surrounding the 'gynoecium', with the sepals, petals, and stamens attached to the rim of the cup.
The flowers of some species lack or have very much reduced petals. These are often referred to as 'apetalous'. Examples of flowers with much reduced perianths are found among the grasses.
The petals are usually the most conspicuous parts of a flower, and the petal whorl or corolla may be either radially or bilaterally symmetrical. If all of the petals are essentially identical in size and shape, the flower is said to be 'regular' or 'actinomorphic' (meaning 'ray-formed'). Many flowers are symmetrical in only one plane (i.e., symmetry is bilateral) and are termed 'irregular' or 'zygomorphic' (meaning yoke- or pair-formed). In ''irregular'' flowers, other floral parts may be modified from the ''regular'' form, but the petals show the greatest deviation from radial symmetry. Examples of zygomorphic flowers may be seen in orchids and members of the pea family. The petal is the colorful, often showy part of a plant.

Contents

Other structures which may look like petals

References

Other structures which may look like petals

Some plants have petaloid stamens, in plants like ''Canna'' that have true petals and staminodes, the stamen (staminodes) are modified to look like large showy petals.
A number of plants have bracts that resemble petals (for example in flowering dogwood). Petal-like bracts are common features in some plant families like Euphorbiaceae.
In many plants of the aster family, the circumference of the flower head is composed of ray florets. Each ray floret is anatomically an individual flower with a single large petal.

References

1. The origin and diversification of angiosperms, Pamela S. Soltis and Douglas E. Soltis, , , American Journal of Botany, 2004