Question

Smallest flowering plant/flower is?
A) Polyalthia
B) Rafflesia
C) Azadirachta
D) Wolffia

Answer 1

Hint: The angiosperm is the flowering plants considered as the most advanced plant. They are also classified according to their habitat, size, reproduction system, and number of cotyledons they bear.

Complete answer:
To answer this question, we have to first know about flowering plants or angiosperms. In flowering plants, the ovules and the pollen grains are formed in a structure called flower and the fruits are enclosed and protects the seeds. They are found in a wide range of habitats and the size varies; they can be tiny as microscopic to all trees of Eucalyptus. The flowering plants provide us with food, fuel, medicines, fodder, and many commercially essential products. They are further divided into cotyledons and dicotyledons, the monocotyledons are those that give one seed while the dicotyledons flowering plants have two. Based on the habitats the flowering plants are divided into herbs, shrubs, and trees. The herbs are the small, non-woody plants, the shrubs are smaller height and woody plants, the branches are near to the base for example, rose, and the trees are woody, branched, and have trunk, for example, mango tree.
Now, as mentioned above the flowering plants varies in size, according to that the smallest flowering plant in 2mm in size and is named watermeal belong to the species Wolffia and family Lemnaceae, it is considered as the smallest flower of the world, they are microscopic and without microscope it seems like pollen grains. This flower consists of a single stamen and pistil each, and the fruit produced from this plant is also considered as the world’s smallest fruit. This plant is found in freshwater lakes or marshes. They do not have roots therefore; they float on the water surface.

Thus, the correct answer is ‘D’. Wolffia.

Note:The polyalthia is 20m in size, the Rafflesia is almost 100 cm, and the Azadirachta is 30-40 m tall, therefore these plants are so tall and they were not microscopic. The Rafflesia blooms the world’s largest flower, belong to the species arnoldii and are found in the Indonesian rainforest.