Carpel

Creator(s): C. de Moraes Potascheff

Description: Cross-section of ovary of Couroupita guianensis based on Luteyn 4895 from Caquetá, Colômbia. The pie-shape black outlines one of the six carpels and the numbers refer to the number of carpels that fused to form the ovary. The blue dots outline a septal unit derived from adjacent carpels and the red dots outline a placenta which is derived from a single carpel. We define the placenta as consisting of the tissue associated with or bearing the ovules.

Rights: Rights reside with creator, otherwise property of NYBG.

  • Title

    Carpel

  • Definition

    The fundamental unit of the gynoecium, often considered to be a folded, specialized leaf.

  • Notes

    The ovaries are hypothesized to be comprised of varying numbers of carpels which can generally be determined by equating the number of carpels to the number of locules, stigmatic lobes, or stigmatic lines.

  • Related Terms

    Ovary

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