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Balsamorhiza hookeri phyllaries are widely separated, hairy, stiff, and point away from the stem.
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These Silphium pinnatifidum phyllaries are graduated, with those closer to the flower longer than the outer layers.
In botanical terminology, a phyllary, also known an involucral bract or tegule, is a single bract of the involucre of a composite flower. [1] [2] [3] The involucre is the grouping of bracts together. Phyllaries are reduced leaf-like structures that form one or more whorls immediately below a flower head. [1]
Phyllaries provide protection to developing flowers and fruits. [4] In the dandelion hybrid Taraxacum japonicum × officinale, recurved phyllaries help defend the flowers from herbivory by slugs. [5]
They sometimes assist in the dispersal of fruits. [4] The hooked phyllaries of burdock species ( Arctium) cling to the fur and feathers of animals, dispersing the seeds away from the parent plant ( exozoochory). [6] [7]
Phyllary morphology is useful in plant identification as between species of the Asteraceae family, they may vary in number, shape, width, length, hairiness, presence of glands, or texture. [3]
In botanical terminology, a phyllary, also known an involucral bract or tegule, is a single bract of the involucre of a composite flower. [1] [2] [3] The involucre is the grouping of bracts together. Phyllaries are reduced leaf-like structures that form one or more whorls immediately below a flower head. [1]
Phyllaries provide protection to developing flowers and fruits. [4] In the dandelion hybrid Taraxacum japonicum × officinale, recurved phyllaries help defend the flowers from herbivory by slugs. [5]
They sometimes assist in the dispersal of fruits. [4] The hooked phyllaries of burdock species ( Arctium) cling to the fur and feathers of animals, dispersing the seeds away from the parent plant ( exozoochory). [6] [7]
Phyllary morphology is useful in plant identification as between species of the Asteraceae family, they may vary in number, shape, width, length, hairiness, presence of glands, or texture. [3]