irregular flower

American  

[i-reg-yuh-ler flau-er] / ɪˈrɛg yə lər ˈflaʊ ər /

noun

1. Botany. Also called zygomorphic flower. a flower that has only one specific line of symmetry, in that its whorl is made of parts that differ in shape from the other parts of the whorl. Compare regular flower.

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irregular flower Scientific  

/ ĭ-rĕg′yə-lər /

1. 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.

2. Compare regular flower

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Example Sentences

Flowers which are fertilised by the wind must of course be excepted; but I do not know of a single instance of an irregular flower which is thus fertilised.

From The Different Forms of Flowers on Plants of the Same Species by Darwin, Charles

Peloria, an abnormal return to regularity and symmetry in an irregular flower; commonest in Snapdragon.

From The Elements of Botany For Beginners and For Schools by Gray, Asa

An irregular flower is generally distinguished by petals of unequal size or shape.

From The Plants of Michigan Simple Keys for the Identification of the Native Seed Plants of the State by Gleason, Henry Allan

Papilionaceous, butterfly-like; applied to the peculiar irregular flower common in Leguminos�.

From The Wild Flowers of California: Their Names, Haunts, and Habits by Parsons, Mary Elizabeth