Question

What are the types of aestivation?

Answer 1

Aestivation:

It refers to the arrangement of floral parts such as petals and sepals in a flower bud before it gets opened.

Types of aestivation:

1. Valvate: In this type of aestivation, the sepals and petals do not overlap but touch each other at their margins. Example: Calotropis and Lilac.
2. Imbricate: In this type of aestivation, the sepals and petals overlap each other in the nonspecific direction. Example: Cassia and Gulmohar.
3. Twisted: In this type of aestivation, the sepals and petals overlap each other in one specific direction. Example: china rose and cotton.
4. Vexillary: It is also referred to as descending imbricate aestivation or papilionaceous aestivation. In this type of aestivation, one large petal overlaps two lateral petals or wings which further overlaps two small anterior petals or keel. Example: peas and beans.