Question

Go through the following matches
Which of the following is correct?

(i) China rose - Twisted aestivation
(ii) Calotropis - Valvate aestivation
(iii) Gulmohar - Ascending imbricate aestivation
(iv) Pea - Descending imbricate aestivation

• A. (i), (ii) and (iii)
• B. (i), (iii) and (iv)
• C. (ii), (iii) and (iv)
• D. All are correct

Answer 1

The correct option is D All are correct

Introduction to aestivation

The mode of arrangement of petals and sepals of a flower in relation to other members of the same whorl is known as aestivation.

China rose - Twisted aestivation

In twisted aestivation one margin of a petal/speal covers the margin of an adjacent petal/sepal and the second margin is covered by the margin of the previous adjacent petal/sepal. This is the characteristic feature of members of the family Malvaceae, e.g., China rose (Hibiscus).


Calotropis - Valvate aestivaiton

Valvate aestivation is seen in flowers such as Calotropis in which the petals or sepals lie close to each other or simply touch each other without overlapping.


Gulmohar - Ascending imbricate aestivation

The aestivation seen in gulmohar and Cassia is ascending imbricate aestivation in which the posterior petal is overlapped by two lateral ones and the lateral ones are in turn overlapped by two anterior petals.


Pea - Descending imbricate aestivation

In descending imbricate or vexillary aestivation, the posterior petal overlaps the two lateral petals which in turn overlap the two anterior petals which remain fused. This aestivation is also known as papilionaceous aestivation and is the characteristic feature of the members of the Fabaceae family such as pea.