Morphology Of Flowering Plants Practice Test

When the central receptacle (thalamus) grows upward and surrounds the ovary so that the ovary sits below the other floral parts, the ovary is described as inferior. This arrangement is called epigynous. In this setup, the floral parts (sepals, petals, and sometimes stamens) often appear to arise from above the ovary because the receptacle has enveloped it, giving the impression that the ovary is below the rest of the flower. This differs from a hypogynous condition, where the ovary sits above the attached floral parts (the floral parts sit below the ovary), and from perigynous, where a cup-like hypanthium forms around the ovary but the ovary itself is not entirely enclosed by the receptacle. Bracts are simply leaflike structures associated with the inflorescence and are not about the ovary’s position.