Question

Ray florets of sunflower (Compositae) are –
A) Bisexual
B) Unisexual
C) Asexual
D) None of the above

Answer 1

Hint: Bisexual flowers are those which have both male and female reproductive organs while unisexual flowers are those which either have male or female reproductive organs.

Complete Answer:
Let us analyse the options to find the correct answer.
- Option A: A bisexual flower shows the presence of two different sexes as two separate entities i.e. male flower and a female flower. Therefore, this is the incorrect option.
- Option B : Unisexual flower is where both the sexes are present within the same flower. This is not the case with ray florets. Therefore, this is the incorrect option.
- Option C: Ray florets do not exist in the form of asexual flowers. Therefore, this is the Incorrect option.
- Option D: In Sunflower or the Helianthus, the flowers present on the outer periphery are known as zygomorphic flowers or ray florets. These are both sterile and asexual as they lack the reproductive parts such as stamens or pistil whereas disc florets or complete flowers exhibits the presence of petals, sepals, 1 stamen, and 1 pistil. Therefore, this is the correct option.

Thus, the correct option is D) none of the above.

Additional information: The characteristics of a sunflower is,
1) It is a herb.
2) Its buds are yellow in colour.
3) It exhibits heliotropism, i.e. the buds of the sunflower faces the sun during the day.

Note: Ray florets cannot undergo reproduction on their own as they lack essential reproductive organs.