Question

Differentiate between Regular and Irregular flowers.

Answer 1

Hint: The differentiation of flowers as regular and irregular is based on the symmetry and asymmetrical fashion of the parts of the flower that are arranged around the floral axis. As the name suggests, the regular defines the symmetric flower whereas the irregular flower defines the asymmetrical flowers.

Complete Answer:
Now symmetry can be of three types:
1. Asymmetrical: As the name suggests, the organisms falling under this category do not have any kind of symmetry, hence the name.
2. Symmetrical: It includes two categories-
a. Radial: This is a type of symmetry where we can get equal halves by cutting the organisms from any plane.
b. Bilateral: Here, in this case, the organism can be cut into two equal halves by only one distinct plane only.

REGULAR FLOWER	IRREGULAR FLOWER
The parts (whorls) of a regular flower, i.e., the calyx, corolla, androecium, and gynoecium, are arranged symmetrically around the floral axis.	In an irregular flower, the petals and sepals are not uniform in shape and they are arranged around the floral axis in an irregular fashion, i.e., asymmetrically.
The regular flowers have more than one dividing plane. This means that the flower will give equal halves regardless of the plane we cut it along.(Radial Symmetry)	The irregular flowers can only be divided along one plane only and that plane in most cases is the vertical axis of the flower. (Bilateral symmetry)Sometimes the flowers may be completely asymmetrical.

Notes:
The regular flower is also called the Actinomorphic flower. Some examples of the actinomorphic flowers are the lily (Lilium, Liliaceae) and the buttercup (Ranunculus, Ranunculaceae).
The irregular flower is called the zygomorphic flower. Some of the examples of irregular or zygomorphic flowers are violets, Viola.