Indiana Nature Biology Glossary

U

Unisexual Flower: Also called “imperfect,” a flower that contains one specific gender of reproductive organ. Unisexual flowers are either male (staminate) or female (pistillate), but never both. Plants bearing unisexual flowers may have both male and female flowers on the same plant (monoecious), or they may strictly contain one gender of flowers or the other (dioecious). The opposite of a unisexual flower is a bisexual or “perfect” flower, which has both male and female reproductive organs present in the same flower.

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Umbellet: One of the secondary umbels of a compound umbel.

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Umbel: A type of inflorescence in which all of the pedicels originate from a common point. Often umbrella-shaped, umbels may be either simple or compound. When compound, the secondary umbels are called "umbellets."

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