Sepal

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Sepal

A sepal (from Latin

Latin

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A sepal (from Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
separatus "separate" + petalum "petal") is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Sepals in a "typical" flower are green and lie under the more conspicuous petal
Petal

A petal is one member or part of the Corolla of a flower. The corolla is the name for all of the petals of a flower; the inner perianth whorl, term used when this is not the same in appearance as the outermost whorl and is used to attract pollinators based on its advertising coloration....
s. As a collective unit the sepals are called the calyx, and the collection of petals is called the corolla. Together, these two structures are known as the perianth of the flower.

The petals and sepals are usually differentiated into colorful petals and green sepals. The term tepal
Tepal

Tepals are elements of the perianth, or outer part of a flower, which include the petals or sepals. The term tepal is usually used when all segments of the perianth are of similar shape and color, or undifferentiated....
is usually applied when the petals and sepals are not differentiated and look similar or the petals are absent and the sepals are colorful. When the flower is in bud, the sepals enclose and protect the more delicate floral parts within. Morphologically they are modified leaves. The calyx (the sepals)and the corolla (the petals) are the outer sterile whorls of the flower and is called the perianth.

The number of sepals in a flower (called merosity
Tepal

Tepals are elements of the perianth, or outer part of a flower, which include the petals or sepals. The term tepal is usually used when all segments of the perianth are of similar shape and color, or undifferentiated....
) is indicative of the plant's classification: eudicots

Eudicots

Eudicots and Eudicotyledons are terms introduced by Doyle & Hotton to refer to a group of flowering plants that had been called "tricolpates" or "non-Magnoliid dicots" by previous authors....
having typically four or five sepals and monocots

Monocotyledon

Monocotyledons or monocots are one of two major groups of flowering plants that are traditionally recognised, the other being dicotyledons or dicots....
and palaeodicots having three, or some multiple of three, sepals.

There exists considerable variation in form of the sepals among the flowering plant

Flowering plant

The flowering plants or angiosperms are the most widespread group of Embryophytes. The flowering plants and the gymnosperms are the only extant groups of Spermatophyte....
s. Often the sepals are much reduced, appearing somewhat awn-like, or as scales, teeth, or ridges. Examples of flowers with much reduced perianths are found among the grasses

Poaceae

Poaceae or Gramineae is a family in the Class Liliopsida of the Magnoliophyta. Plants of this family are usually called grasses; the shrub- or tree-like plants in this family are called bamboo ....
. In some flowers, the sepals are fused towards the base, forming a calyx tube (as in the Lythraceae

Lythraceae

Lythraceae is a family of flowering plants. It includes 500-600 species of mostly herbs, with some shrubs and trees, in 32 genus. Lythraceae have a worldwide distribution, with most species in the tropics but ranging into temperate climate regions as well....
family). This floral tube can include the petals and the attachment point of the stamen

Stamen

The stamen is the male organ of a flower. Each stamen generally has a stalk called the filament , and, on top of the filament, an anther , and pollen sacs, called sporangium....
s.

Sepal

See also