Download Flower Parts Lab

Flower Parts Lab
Objectives:
Students will be able to draw and recognize the parts of a flower and indicate their functions.
Students will be able to describe the processes of pollination, fertilization, and seed production in plants.
Materials:
Compound Light Microscope, Flower specimen – Alstroemeria, Scalpels, Textbook, Pencil, Colored Pencils
Background information:
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class:
Liliopsida
Order:
Liliales
Family:
Alstroemeriaceae
Genus:
Alstroemeria
Species:
aurantiaca
Alstroemeria commonly called the Peruvian Lily or Lily of the Incas, is a South American genus of about 50
species of flowering plants. Almost all of the species are restricted to one of two distinct centers of diversity,
one in central Chile, the other in eastern Brazil. Species of Alstroemeria from Chile are winter-growing plants
while those of Brazil are summer-growing.The genus was named for the Swedish baron Clas Alströmer by his
close friend Carolus Linnaeus. Perhaps the most fascinating- and telltale- morphological trait of Alstroemeria
and its relatives is the fact that the leaves are resupinate, that is, they twist from the base so that what appears to
be the upper leaf surface is in fact the lower leaf surface. This very unusual botanical feature is easily observed
in the leaves on cut flowers from the florist.
Lab Procedure:
1. Obtain necessary lab materials including a flower specimen from the teacher.
2. Observe the flower to identify each of the parts indicated on the overhead transparency or Figure 9 on page
538 in the textbook. The teacher will come around to each table and make a cutting across the ovary so the
ovules can be seen.
3. Make a drawing of the flower and its parts. Label the stamen, anther, filament, pistil, stigma, style, ovary,
petal, and sepal. Add color. Draw your flower on your graph paper.
4. Tap the anther of the flower on a microscope slide to shake some pollen grains off. Place a cover slip over the
pollen.
5. Examine the pollen grains. Make a scientific drawing of the pollen under 400x power. Add color if possible.
(Note: Pre-made slides of several types of pollen will be available for comparison.) Draw the pollen grains on
your graph paper.
6. Clean up lab area and return materials to the front desk. Then, answer the following questions on your paper.
Questions: You may use your textbook to help you.
1. How would you write the Genus and Species name of your flower correctly? What is this naming
system called?
2. What are the functions of the following flower parts: sepals, petals, stamens, anthers, pistils, and
ovaries?
3. Compare and contrast the sepals and petals on your flower.
4. Based upon the appearance of the flower, hypothesize what the function of the petals would be. What do
you think they would be pollinated by?
5. Is your flower a monocot or dicot? What are several ways that you can tell?
6. Why do you think flowers have more than one grain of pollen, usually many more?
7. What is the benefit of the ovary developing into an edible fruit in some plants?
8. How does a pollen grain get to the stigma of a pistil?
9. How might the odor of the petals help in pollination?
10. Which parts of the flower develop into the seeds? Which parts develop into the fruits?
11. How does the structure of the stigma aid in pollination?