Abortive flower

Abortion in flowers and developing fruits is a common occurrence in plants.[1]

An abortive flower[2] is a flower that has a stamen but an under developed, or no pistil.[3] It falls without producing fruit or seeds, due to its inability to fructify. Flowers require both male and female organs to reproduce, and the pistils and ovary serve as female organs, while the stamens are considered male organs. Illustrative examples include Urginea nagarjunae and Trichilogaster acaciaelongifoliae.

Studies have shown that hermaphrodites or bisexual flowers have higher rates of fruit abortions than unisexual flowers.[4][5]

Galls of Trichilogaster acaciaelongifoliae
  1. ^ Bawa, K. S.; Webb, C. J. (1984). "Flower, Fruit and Seed Abortion in Tropical Forest Trees: Implications for the Evolution of Paternal and Maternal Reproductive Patterns". American Journal of Botany. 71 (5): 736–751. doi:10.2307/2443371. ISSN 0002-9122.
  2. ^ Smith, Arma A. (1896). "Abortive Flower Buds of Trillium". Botanical Gazette. 22 (5): 402–403. doi:10.1086/327429. ISSN 0006-8071. JSTOR 2464003. S2CID 84416047.
  3. ^ "Websters Dictionary 1828 - Webster's Dictionary 1828 - abortive". Websters Dictionary 1828. Retrieved 2018-10-08.
  4. ^ Burd, Martin (1998). ""Excess" Flower Production and Selective Fruit Abortion: A Model of Potential Benefits". Ecology. 79 (6): 2123–2132. doi:10.2307/176715. ISSN 0012-9658.
  5. ^ Sutherland, Steve (1987). "Why Hermaphroditic Plants Produce Many More Flowers Than Fruits: Experimental Tests with Agave mckelveyana". Evolution. 41 (4): 750–759. doi:10.2307/2408885. ISSN 0014-3820.