Question

Which among the following statements true for unisexual flowers?
a) They possess both stamen and pistil
b) They possess either stamen or pistil
c) The exhibit cross-pollination
d) Both b and c

Answer 1

Hint: The flower is composed of accessory parts like the petals and sepals and the reproductive part. Some flowers have both the male and female reproductive part and some flowers only have a single either male or female reproductive part.

Complete step by step answer:
Unisexual flowers are those flowers which have the presence of either stamen (which is the male reproductive part) or pistil (female reproductive part). The flowers which have a male reproductive part are the staminate flowers whereas the flowers which have female reproductive parts are known as carpellate. A plant that has only one type of flower either male or female is known as a unisexual flower. And a plant that has both male and female flowers present on it is known as a monoecious plant. In these plants, the flower may have both the reproductive organ or would have only one reproductive organ. The process of transferring pollen grains from the anther of a flower to the stigma of the same or other flower is known as pollination. Pollination can be of two types: self-pollination and cross-pollination. The pollination in unisexual flowers occurs through cross-pollination. In this type of pollination, the pollen grains from the flower of a plant are transported to the stigma of the flower of the other plant. In this type of pollination pollinating agents are required for successful transfers of pollen grains. In this type of pollination process, the pollen grains that arrive at the stigma are genotypically different from each other.

So, the answer is ‘both b and c’.

Note:
The unisexual flowers need pollinating agents like wind, water, and insects for pollination of pollens. The pollen grains which require pollinating agents are made in such a way that they may get easily carried to the stigma of the plant.