Flowers

Anemone is a genus of flowering plants in the family Ranunculaceae, native to temperate zones. The genus is closely related to several other genera such as Pulsatilla (pasqueflowers) and Hepatica; some botanists include both of these genera within Anemone.Anemone are perennials that have basal leaves with long leaf-stems that can be upright or prostrate. Leaves are simple or compound with lobed, parted, or undivided leaf blades. The leaf margins are toothed or entire. Flowers with 4–27 sepals are produced singly, in cymes of 2–9 flowers, or in umbels, above a cluster of leaf- or sepal-like bracts. Sepals may be any color. The pistils have one ovule. The flowers have nectaries, but petals are missing in the majority of species. The fruits are ovoid to obovoid shaped achenes that are collected together in a tight cluster, ending variously lengthened stalks; though many species have sessile clusters terminating the stems. The achenes are beaked and some species have feathery hairs attached to them. A common name for anemones is 'wind flowers'. Anemone is derived from the Greek word anemos (ἄνεμος), which in English means 'wind'.

he apple blossom is a typical angiosperm flower, with petals surrounding multiple pollen-producing structures called stamens, the male reproductive organs of the flower, which are crowned with sticky pollen-collecting stigma. When fertilized by pollen, the female ovary at the base of the flower enlarges and becomes the fruit. Most apple blossom petals are are pink when the flower first blooms, and they fade to white as the season progresses.

The bird of paradise flower meaning includes joy and paradise, as it is the quintessential tropical flower. It originates from South Africa, where it is also nicknamed the Crane Flower. This flower has been grown at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, South Africa since 1773. The scientific name for the bird of paradise is Strelitzia reginae, which was named by Sir Joseph Banks, who was the director of the royal gardens. He named genus, Strelitzia, after Queen Charlotte who was the Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. The bird of paradise gets its name from the fact that its flower is made of three bright orange petals and three blue petals which are fused together into a single bud. As the flower blooms, each petal makes its debut and the resulting shape mirrors that of a tropical bird in flight.

Camellia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Theaceae. They are found in eastern and southern Asia, from the Himalayas east to Japan and Indonesia. There are 100–300 described species, with some controversy over the exact number. There are also around 3,000 hybrids. The genus was named by Linnaeus after the Jesuit botanist Georg Joseph Kamel, who worked in the Philippines and described a species of camellia (although Linnaeus did not refer to Kamel's account when discussing the genus).Camellias are famous throughout East Asia; they are known as cháhuā in Chinese, tsubaki in Japanese, dongbaek-kkot in Korean, and as hoa trà or hoa chè in Vietnamese. Camellias are evergreen shrubs or small trees up to 20 m (66 ft) tall. Their leaves are alternately arranged, simple, thick, serrated, and usually glossy. Their flowers are usually large and conspicuous, one to 12 cm in diameter, with five to nine petals in naturally occurring species of camellias. The colors of the flowers vary from white through pink colors to red; truly yellow flowers are found only in South China and Vietnam. Tea varieties are always white-flowered. Camellia flowers throughout the genus are characterized by a dense bouquet of conspicuous yellow stamens, often contrasting with the petal colors. The so-called 'fruit' of camellia plants is a dry capsule, sometimes subdivided in up to five compartments, each compartment containing up to eight seeds. The various species of camellia plants are generally well-adapted to acid soils rich in humus, and most species do not grow well on chalky soil or other calcium-rich soils. Most species of camellias also require a large amount of water, either from natural rainfall or from irrigation, and the plants will not tolerate droughts. However, some of the more unusual camellias – typically species from karst soils in Vietnam – can grow without too much water. Camellia plants usually have a rapid growth rate. Typically they will grow about 30 cm per year until mature – though this does vary depending on their variety and geographical location. Camellia plants are used as food plants by the larvae of a number of Lepidoptera species; see List of Lepidoptera that feed on Camellia. Leaves of the Japanese camellia are susceptible to the fungal parasite Mycelia sterile.

Chamomile (American English) or camomile (British English; see spelling differences) is the common name for several daisy-like plants of the family Asteraceae. Two of the species are commonly used to make herbal infusions for traditional medicine, and there is some evidence that chamomile has an effect on health. Chamomile tea is an herbal infusion made from dried flowers and hot water. Two types of chamomile used are German chamomile (Matricaria recutita) and Roman chamomile (Chamaemelum nobile). Chamomile may be used as a flavoring agent in foods and beverages, mouthwash, soaps, or cosmetics. When used as an herbal product, such as in tea or as a topical skin cream, chamomile is not likely to have significant health effects or major side eff

Crocus (English plural: crocuses or croci) is a genus of flowering plants in the iris family comprising 90 species of perennials growing from corms. Many are cultivated for their flowers appearing in autumn, winter, or spring. The spice saffron is obtained from the stigmas of Crocus sativus, an autumn-blooming species. Crocuses are native to woodland, scrub, and meadows from sea level to alpine tundra in North Africa and the Middle East, central and southern Europe, in particular Krokos, Greece, on the islands of the Aegean, and across Central Asia to Xinjiang Province in western China. The cup-shaped, solitary, salverform flower tapers off into a narrow tube. Their colors vary enormously, although lilac, mauve, yellow, and white are predominant. The grass-like, ensiform leaf shows generally a white central stripe along the leaf axis. The leaf margin is entire. A crocus has three stamens, while a similar-looking toxic plant, Colchicum, sometimes popularly referred to as 'autumn crocus', has six stamens. In addition, crocus have one style, while Colchicum have three.

Narcissus is a genus of predominantly spring flowering perennial plants of the amaryllis family, Amaryllidaceae. Various common names including daffodil, narcissus and jonquil are used to describe all or some members of the genus. Narcissus has conspicuous flowers with six petal-like tepals surmounted by a cup- or trumpet-shaped corona. The flowers are generally white or yellow (also orange or pink in garden varieties), with either uniform or contrasting coloured tepals and corona. The plants are scapose, having a single central leafless hollow flower stem (scape). Several green or blue-green, narrow, strap-shaped leaves arise from the bulb. The plant stem usually bears a solitary flower, but occasionally a cluster of flowers (umbel). The flowers, which are usually conspicuous and white or yellow, sometimes both or rarely green, consist of a perianth of three parts. Closest to the stem (proximal) is a floral tube above the ovary, then an outer ring composed of six tepals (undifferentiated sepals and petals), and a central disc to conical shaped corona. The flowers may hang down (pendent), or be erect. There are six pollen bearing stamens surrounding a central style. The ovary is inferior (below the floral parts) consisting of three chambers (trilocular). The fruit consists of a dry capsule that splits (dehisces) releasing numerous black seeds.

Delphinium is a genus of about 300 species of perennial flowering plants in the family Ranunculaceae, native throughout the Northern Hemisphere and also on the high mountains of tropical Africa. The genus was erected by Carl Linnaeus. All members of the genus Delphinium are toxic to humans and livestock. The common name larkspur is shared between perennial Delphinium species and annual species of the genus Consolida. Molecular data show that Consolida, as well as another segregate genus, Aconitella, are both embedded in Delphinium. The genus name Delphinium derives from the Ancient Greek word δελφίνιον (delphínion) which means 'dolphin', a name used in De Materia Medica for some kind of larkspur. Pedanius Dioscorides said the plant got its name because of its dolphin-shaped flowers.

Gerbera, also known as the African daisy, Transvaal daisy, or Hilton daisy. It is a flowering perennial plant related to the sunflower and attracts birds, bees and butterflies. It is also often used as an ornamental plant when deer are a problem, as they will not eat it. The stems grow from a basal clump of dark-green leathery leaves to about 18 inches, or sometime even 30 inches, in height. The blooms are four inches across and resemble large daisies. They come in red, orange, yellow, pink, white and cream colours and can continue flowering for six months.

Heather, (Calluna vulgaris), also called Scotch heather or ling, low evergreen shrub of the heath family (Ericaceae), widespread in western Europe and Asia, North America, and Greenland. It is the chief vegetation on many wastelands of northern and western Europe. The young juicy shoots and the seeds of heather are the principal food of the red grouse (Lagopus scoticus), and ripe seeds of heather are eaten by many other species of birds. Scotch heather has purple stems, shoots with small close leaves, and feathery spikes of pink bell-shaped flowers. In sheltered places it grows to 0.9 metre (3 feet) or more, but on arid slopes it frequently rises only a few centimetres above the ground. The plant is distinguished from true heaths (Erica species), which are sometimes loosely called heather, by the lobes of its calyx (the collective sepals), which conceal the petals; in true heaths the petals are longer than the calyx.

Hydrangea common names hydrangea or hortensia, is a genus of 70–75 species of flowering plants native to Asia and the Americas. By far the greatest species diversity is in eastern Asia, notably Korea, China, and Japan. Most are shrubs 1 to 3 meters tall, but some are small trees, and others lianas reaching up to 30 m (98 ft) by climbing up trees. They can be either deciduous or evergreen, though the widely cultivated temperate species are all deciduous.In most species the flowers are white, but in some species can be blue, red, pink, light purple, or dark purple. In these species, floral color change occurs due to the presence of aluminum ions which are available or tied up depending upon the soil pH.

Jasmine is a genus of shrubs and vines in the olive family (Oleaceae). It contains around 200 species native to tropical and warm temperate regions of Eurasia and Oceania. Jasmines are widely cultivated for the characteristic fragrance of their flowers. A number of unrelated plants contain the word 'jasmine' in their common names.Jasmine can be either deciduous (leaves falling in autumn) or evergreen (green all year round), and can be erect, spreading, or climbing shrubs and vines. Their leaves are borne in opposing or alternating arrangement and can be of simple, trifoliate, or pinnate formation. The flowers are typically around 2.5 cm (0.98 in) in diameter. They are white or yellow in color, although in rare instances they can be slightly reddish. The flowers are borne in cymose clusters with a minimum of three flowers, though they can also be solitary on the ends of branchlets. Each flower has about four to nine petals, two locules, and one to four ovules. They have two stamens with very short filaments. The bracts are linear or ovate. The calyx is bell-shaped. They are usually very fragrant. The fruits of jasmines are berries that turn black when ripe.

Syringa vulgaris (lilac or common lilac) is a species of flowering plant in the olive family Oleaceae, native to the Balkan Peninsula, where it grows on rocky hills. Grown for its scented purple flowers in spring, this large shrub or small tree is widely cultivated and has been naturalized in parts of Europe and North America. It is not regarded as an aggressive species, found in the wild in widely scattered sites, usually in the vicinity of past or present human habitations. Syringa vulgaris is a large deciduous shrub or multistemmed small tree, growing to 6–7 m (20–23 ft) high. It produces secondary shoots (suckers) from the base or roots, with stem diameters up to 20 cm (8 in), which in the course of decades may produce a small clonal thicket. The bark is grey to grey-brown, smooth on young stems, longitudinally furrowed, and flaking on older stems. The leaves are simple, 4–12 cm (2–5 in) and 3–8 cm broad, light green to glaucous, oval to cordate, with pinnate leaf venation, a mucronate apex, and an entire margin. They are arranged in opposite pairs or occasionally in whorls of three. The flowers have a tubular base to the corolla 6–10 mm long with an open four-lobed apex 5–8 mm across, usually lilac to mauve, occasionally white. They are arranged in dense, terminal panicles 8–18 cm (3–7 in) long. The fruit is a dry, smooth, brown capsule, 1–2 cm long, splitting in two to release the two-winged seeds.

Eustoma, commonly known as lisianthus or prairie gentian, is a small genus in the gentian family. They are native to warm regions of the southern United States, Mexico, Caribbean and northern South America.This genus is typically found in grasslands and in areas of disturbed ground. They are herbaceous annuals, growing to 15–60 cm tall, with bluish green, slightly succulent leaves and large funnel-shaped flowers growing on long straight stems: sometimes erect single stems, other times growing on branching stems that can rise to be eighteen feet tall. The flowers can grow up to two inches across and can be found in a variety of colors. They have been found in all shades of pink, purple, white, and blue. In addition, some are bicolored and some are occasionally found in yellow or carmine-red. Eustoma flowers are either single-flowered or double-flowered. Both types of flowers can be found in all ranges of the possible colors listed above.They are usually one to three feet tall, although there are dwarf varieties that only grow up to eight inches in height.

Magnolia is a large genus of about 210 flowering plant species in the subfamily Magnolioideae of the family Magnoliaceae. It is named after French botanist Pierre Magnol. Magnolias are spreading, evergreen or deciduous trees or shrubs, characterised by large fragrant flowers which may be bowl-shaped or star-shaped, in shades of white, pink, purple, green or yellow. In deciduous species the blooms often appear before the leaves, in Spring. Cone-like fruits are often produced in Autumn. As with all Magnoliaceae, the perianth is undifferentiated, with 9–15 tepals in 3 or more whorls. The flowers are bisexual with numerous adnate carpels and stamens are arranged in a spiral fashion on the elongated receptacle. The fruit dehisces along the dorsal sutures of the carpels. The pollen is monocolpate, and the embryo development is of the Polygonum type.

Morning glory, any of several herbaceous twining vines or shrubs in the genus Ipomoea (family Convolvulaceae). Several species of morning glories are cultivated for their showy trumpet-shaped flowers and attractive leaves.Common morning glory (I. purpurea), an annual vine that bears heart-shaped leaves and purple, pink, or white flowers about 7 cm (3 inches) across, has become a troublesome weed in parts of southeastern North America. It is grown as an ornamental in many places.

The Orchidaceae are a diverse and widespread family of flowering plants, with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant, commonly known as the orchid family. The primary characteristics that distinguish the orchids as a group are found in the flower. At the bottom of an unspecialized non-orchid flower is the stem that supports it, called the pedicel. Directly above, and at the base of the flower itself, is a whorl of green, leaflike organs called sepals. Above and inside the sepals is a second whorl of coloured petals. Together the sepals and petals are called the perianth, which constitute the nonreproductive parts of the flower. The perianth protects the flower or attracts pollinators or both. Inside (also arranged in whorls) are the sexual portions of the flower. First are the pollen-producing stamens in up to several whorls; each stamen consists of an anther on a long slender filament. In the centre of the flower is the female pistil, which consists of an enlarged inferior ovary topped by a stalklike style with a stigma at its apex. The sepals and petals are usually similar, often highly coloured, and in sets of three. One petal is developed as a landing platform for the pollinator and is called the lip (or labellum).

The peony or paeony is a flowering plant in the genus Paeonia, the only genus in the family Paeoniaceae. Peonies are native to Asia, Europe and Western North America. Scientists differ on the number of species that can be distinguished, ranging from 25 to 40, although the current consensus is 33 known species. The relationships between the species need to be further clarified. Most are herbaceous perennial plants 0.25–1 metre (1–3 ft) tall, but some are woody shrubs 0.25–3.5 metres (1–11 ft) tall. They have compound, deeply lobed leaves and large, often fragrant flowers, in colors ranging from purple and pink to red, white or yellow, in late spring and early summer. The flowers have a short blooming season, usually only 7–10 days.

Protea is both the botanical name and the English common name of a genus of South African flowering plants, sometimes also called sugarbushes. Protea is a woody shrub with thick stems and large dark green, glossy leaves. Most plants are one metre in height when mature, but may vary according to locality and habitat from 0.35 to 2 metres (1 ft 2 in to 6 ft 7 in) in height. The 'flowers' of Protea are actually composite flower heads (termed an inflorescence) with a collection of flowers in the centre, surrounded by large colourful bracts, from about 120 to 300 millimetres (5 to 12 in) in diameter. Large, vigorous plants produce six to ten flower heads in one season, although some exceptional plants can produce up to forty flower heads on one plant. The colour of the bracts varies from a creamy white to a deep crimson, but the soft pale pink bracts with a silvery sheen are the most prized.

Ranunculus is a large genus of about 600 species of flowering plants in the family Ranunculaceae. Members of the genus are known as buttercups, spearworts and water crowfoots. Buttercups are mostly perennial, but occasionally annual or biennial, herbaceous, aquatic or terrestrial plants, often with leaves in a rosette at the base of the stem. In many perennial species runners are sent out that will develop new plants with roots and rosettes at the distanced nodes. The leaves lack stipules, have petioles, are palmately veined, entire, more or less deeply incised, or compound, and leaflets or leaf segments may be very fine and linear in aquatic species. The hermaphrodite flowers are single or in a cyme, have usually five (but occasionally as few as three or as many as seven) mostly green sepals and usually five yellow, greenish or white petals that are sometimes flushed with red, purple or pink (but the petals may be absent or have a different, sometimes much higher number). At the base of each petal is usually one nectary gland that is naked or may be covered by a scale. Anthers may be few, but often many are arranged in a spiral, are yellow or sometimes white, and with yellow pollen. The sometimes few but mostly many green or yellow carpels are not fused and are also arranged in a spiral, mostly on a globe or dome-shaped receptacle. The fruits (in this case called achenes) may be smooth or hairy, winged, nobby or have hooked spines.

Antirrhinum is a genus of plants commonly known as dragon flowers or snapdragons because of the flowers' fancied resemblance to the face of a dragon that opens and closes its mouth when laterally squeezed. They are native to rocky areas of Europe, the United States, and North Africa. Snapdragons uniformly bear a whorl of flowers atop slender stalks. The best known are ones with snappable flowers, but others have open-faced flowers including double forms. Colors include white, yellow, burgundy, red, pink, orange, and bronze.

Sunflower, (genus Helianthus), genus of nearly 70 species of herbaceous plants of the aster family (Asteraceae). Sunflowers are native primarily to North and South America, and some species are cultivated as ornamentals for their spectacular size and flower heads and for their edible seeds. The Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus) is cultivated for its edible underground tubers. The common sunflower (H. annuus) is an annual herb with a rough hairy stem 1–4.5 metres (3–15 feet) high and broad, coarsely toothed, rough leaves 7.5–30 cm (3–12 inches) long arranged in spirals. The attractive heads of flowers are 7.5–15 cm wide in wild specimens and often 30 cm or more in cultivated types. The disk flowers are brown, yellow, or purple, while the petallike ray flowers are yellow. The fruit is a single-seeded achene. Oilseed varieties typically have small black achenes, while those grown for direct seed consumption, known as confection varieties, have larger black-and-white achenes that readily separate from the seed within.

Tulips (Tulipa) form a genus of spring-blooming perennial herbaceous bulbiferous geophytes (having bulbs as storage organs). The flowers are usually large, showy and brightly colored, generally red, pink, yellow, or white (usually in warm colors). They often have a different colored blotch at the base of the tepals (petals and sepals, collectively), internally. Because of a degree of variability within the populations, and a long history of cultivation, classification has been complex and controversial. Tulipa (tulips) is a genus of spring-blooming perennial herbaceous bulbiferous geophytes, dying back after flowering to an underground storage bulb. Depending on the species, tulip plants can be between 10 and 70 cm (4 and 28 inches) high.The tulip's flowers are usually large and are actinomorphic (radially symmetric) and hermaphrodite (contain both male (androecium) and female (gynoecium) characteristics), generally erect, or more rarely pendulous, and are arranged more usually as a single terminal flower, or when pluriflor as two to three (e.g. Tulipa turkestanica), but up to four, flowers on the end of a floriferous stem (scape), which is single arising from amongst the basal leaf rosette. In structure, the flower is generally cup or star shaped. As with other members of Liliaceae the perianth is undifferentiated (perigonium) and biseriate (two whorled), formed from six free (i.e. apotepalous) caducous tepals arranged into two separate whorls of three parts (trimerous) each. The two whorls represent three petals and three sepals, but are termed tepals because they are nearly identical. The tepals are usually petaloid (petal like), being brightly coloured, but each whorl may be different, or have different coloured blotches at their bases, forming darker colouration on the interior surface. The inner petals have a small, delicate cleft at the top, while the sturdier outer ones form uninterrupted ovals.Tulip flowers come in a wide variety of colours, except pure blue (several tulips with 'blue' in the name have a faint violet hue), and have absent nectaries.Tulip flowers are generally bereft of scent and are the coolest of floral characters. The Dutch regarded this lack of scent as a virtue, as it demonstrates the flower's chasteness.