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Questions and Answers: 2016

Question: Nyssa sylvatica male flowers often have blue discs where the green petals attach. Are these the perfect flowers? Or... what? …

• Question

  Nyssa sylvatica male flowers often have blue discs where the green petals attach. Are these the perfect flowers? Or... what? What is the blue part?

  Answer

  Dear yeshepalma, "perfect" is an older designation for a flower when it contains both pollen-bearing (stamens) and ovule-bearing (carpels) parts. Today, a flower that has both of these features is generally called "bisexual". Flowers that contain only one of these parts, formerly referred to as "imperfect" are now referred to as "unisexual". Therefore, a flower that contains only stamens is unisexual. The stamens of the pollen-bearing flowers of Nyssa sylvatica are attached to the receptacle of the flower (this may be the disk you are referring to). The fertile flowers (those that bear carpels) have non-functional stamens, so the those flowers are "functionally unisexual", but might appear bisexual on casual examination. If this does not help, feel free to post a follow-up question. Best wishes.