Flower as Modified Shoot — NEET Biology
✅ Asked in NEET 2023A flower is a modified shoot wherein the shoot apical meristem changes to floral meristem. Internodes do not elongate and the axis gets condensed. The apex produces different kinds of floral appendages laterally at successive nodes instead of leaves. When a shoot tip transforms into a flower, it is always solitary. The arrangement of flowers on the floral axis is termed as inflorescence. Depending on whether the apex gets developed into a flower or continues to grow, two major types of inflorescences are defined – racemose and cymose. In racemose type of inflorescences the main axis continues to grow, the flowers are borne laterally in an acropetal succession.
NTA tests whether you understand that a flower is a condensed, modified shoot where the shoot apical meristem transforms into a floral meristem, internodes don't elongate, and floral organs replace leaves. Students often mistake flowers as entirely different structures rather than modified shoots sharing the same basic organization. The key trap is confusing racemose (where main axis keeps growing and produces flowers acropetally) with cymose inflorescences (where apex terminates in a flower). Remember: solitary flower = one flower per shoot tip, while inflorescence = arrangement of multiple flowers on the axis. Understanding this morphological transformation is fundamental to plant reproduction topics.
Assertion (A): A flower is defined as modified shoot wherein the shoot apical meristem changes to floral meristem. Reason (R): Internode of the shoot gets condensed to produce different floral appendages laterally at successive node instead of leaves.
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