A flower bud is an undeveloped flower in which the floral organs are forming or remain enclosed before anthesis. It differs from a vegetative bud, which will extend a shoot with leaves. A flower bud is already reproductive even while its external coverings hide the future stamens and carpels.[ref]
Molecular Biology of the Cell, 4th edition by Bruce Alberts and others. Chapter 21, Plant Development: floral meristems and successive floral organ primordia
Dissecting a series of flower buds of increasing size can reveal the order in which floral structures appear. Opening the largest bud is not equivalent to observing the original switch to flowering: that developmental decision occurred earlier. This makes flower bud size a useful staging observation, provided the relation between size and internal development is checked for the particular plant.
Articles by others on the same topic
There are currently no matching articles.