irregular flower
[ ĭ-rĕg′yə-lər ]
A flower in which one or more members of a whorl, or of several floral whorls, differ in form from other members. Irregular flowers, such as those of the violet or the pea, are often bilaterally symmetric. The pea has one large upper petal above, two free petals on the each side, and two petals fused together in a keel shape below. Compare regular flower.
Words Nearby irregular flower
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
How to use irregular flower in a sentence
Peloria, an abnormal return to regularity and symmetry in an irregular flower; commonest in Snapdragon.
The Elements of Botany | Asa GrayStudy of an irregular flower to show adaptations for insect visitors.
A Civic Biology | George William HunterAn irregular flower is generally distinguished by petals of unequal size or shape.
The Plants of Michigan | Henry Allan GleasonGeneral term for any loose and irregular flower-cluster, commonly of the racemose type, with pedicellate flowers.
Handbook of the Trees of New England | Lorin Low Dame
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