The Purpose of Flower Petals

Every part of a flower has a function.

Can you imagine a flower without petals? They're the delicate symmetry that makes a flower so engaging. The term petal comes from a Greek word "petalon," meaning leaf. All of the petals of a flower make up the corolla. The corolla in combination with the calyx and sepals reach out to capture the attention of pollinators.

Flower Basics

Flower petals help determine how a flower gets classified. Dicots are flowers that have four or five petals, and by far dominate the floral array. Monocots have either multiples of three petals or just three petals. Classification doesn't stop there. Botanists call flowers with just five petals a single, 10 petals a double, and for those flowers that refuse to conform, there's the semi-double of six to nine petals. Then there's the shape the flower petals create to consider. Pansies have the commonest shape in nature, clustered in three large petals below and two small petals above the central point. There are also star shaped flowers, bell shaped flowers, and wasp flowers with thin, very delicate petals that don't hold up well. In addition to this, flower classification includes color (or color combinations).

Petal or Not?

Sometimes what we think is a flower petal is a different part of the plant in stealth mode. For example some bracts, or specialized leaves, look like petals, with one example being dogwood. Other plants may have petals on the stamen, but these aren't petals in the traditional sense of the term.

Attracting Bees and Butterflies

Petal shapes, colors and scents all play a role in attracting various pollinators. Some shapes in nature imitate an insect's shape, which draws that pollinator. The shape of flowers determines what pollinators can use them. Hummingbirds, for example, need trumpet-shaped flowers to feed. In terms of colors, various pollinators see different hues and find their way to the flower petals that way. As for scent, bees in particular follow sweet aromas.

Diversity

Petal shapes vary a lot in nature. You get crowns, tubes and cups as well as varying types of symmetry. All of these shapes encourage specific pollinators.

Flower Petal Uses

Flower power isn't something simply measured in nature. Humans have many uses for flower petals too. We use them in medicine, the culinary arts, perfumery, gardening, cleaning products and much more. Out of all the flower petals in nature, rose is the reigning queen in terms of applications in daily life.

References

• Berkeley University: What Makes a Petal a Petal
• University of Illinois: The Great Plant Escape
• Encyclopedia Britannica: Parts of a Flower