The Flower — ICSE Class 9 Biology Important Questions
13 ICSE Class 9 Biology practice questions on The Flower, each with a full model answer, covering 5 topics from the chapter in the question formats used in the exam.
By The Classmate AI Editorial Team
- 13
- Questions
- 5
- Topics
- 4
- Key concepts
- ₹0
- With answers
Regularly-tested ICSE The Flower questions cover the four whorls of a typical flower - calyx (sepals), corolla (petals), androecium (stamens) and gynoecium (carpels) - the structure and function of each part, the parts of a stamen (anther and filament) and carpel (stigma, style, ovary), and the difference between complete/incomplete and unisexual/bisexual flowers. A well-labelled flower diagram is asked almost every year.
About The Flower
Within the ICSE Class 9 Biology chapter The Flower you explore the flower as the reproductive part of a plant, its four whorls (calyx, corolla, androecium and gynoecium), the detailed structure of the stamen and carpel, and the classification of flowers as complete or incomplete and bisexual or unisexual.
Key concepts & formulas
From outside inward: calyx (sepals, protection), corolla (petals, attraction), androecium (stamens, male), gynoecium/pistil (carpels, female).
The male reproductive part; each stamen has a stalk-like filament and a anther which produces pollen grains containing the male gametes.
The female reproductive part; consists of a sticky stigma (receives pollen), a style (connecting stalk) and a swollen ovary containing ovules with the female gametes.
A complete flower has all four whorls; an incomplete flower lacks one or more. A bisexual flower has both stamens and carpels; a unisexual flower has only one.
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Important questions with answers
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Multiple-choice questions (1 mark)
The male reproductive part of a flower is the:
- (a)
Carpel
- (b)
Stamen
- (c)
Sepal
- (d)
Petal
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Answer: (b) Stamen.
The stamen (androecium) is the male reproductive part; it consists of an anther and a filament and produces pollen.
The swollen basal part of the carpel that contains the ovules is the:
- (a)
Stigma
- (b)
Style
- (c)
Ovary
- (d)
Filament
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Answer: (c) Ovary.
The ovary is the enlarged basal part of the carpel; it encloses the ovules, which after fertilisation develop into seeds.
The whorl of a flower that mainly attracts insects for pollination is the:
- (a)
Calyx
- (b)
Corolla
- (c)
Androecium
- (d)
Gynoecium
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Answer: (b) Corolla.
The corolla is made of brightly coloured, often scented petals that attract insects and other pollinators.
A flower has sepals, petals and stamens but no carpels. Such a flower is:
- (a)
Bisexual and complete
- (b)
Unisexual (male) and incomplete
- (c)
Unisexual (female) and complete
- (d)
Bisexual and incomplete
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Answer: (b) Unisexual (male) and incomplete.
Because it has stamens but no carpels it is a male (staminate) flower, and lacking one whorl (gynoecium) makes it incomplete.
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Practise free with the AI tutor →Assertion–Reason questions (1 mark)
Assertion (A): The calyx protects the flower in the bud stage.
Reason (R): The calyx is the outermost whorl made up of green leaf-like sepals.
- (a)
Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A
- (b)
Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A
- (c)
A is true but R is false
- (d)
A is false but R is true
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Answer: (a) The calyx does protect the young flower in the bud, and this is possible because it is the outermost whorl of tough green sepals, so R correctly explains A.
Very short answer questions (2 marks)
Name the four whorls of a typical flower in order from outside to inside.
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From the outside to the inside the four whorls are:
- Calyx (sepals)
- Corolla (petals)
- Androecium (stamens)
- Gynoecium or pistil (carpels)
Name the parts of a stamen and state what each produces or does.
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A stamen has two parts:
-
Anther: A sac-like structure that produces pollen grains, which contain the male gametes.
-
Filament: A slender stalk that holds up the anther and supplies it with nutrients.
Short answer questions (3 marks)
Describe the structure of the gynoecium (carpel) of a flower.
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The gynoecium (pistil) is the female reproductive whorl and is made of one or more carpels. Each carpel has three parts:
-
Stigma: The topmost, often sticky part that receives the pollen grains during pollination.
-
Style: The slender stalk that connects the stigma to the ovary and through which the pollen tube grows.
-
Ovary: The swollen basal part that contains one or more ovules. After fertilisation the ovules become seeds and the ovary develops into the fruit.
State the functions of the calyx and the corolla of a flower.
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Calyx (sepals):
- It is the outermost green whorl that protects the inner delicate parts of the flower when it is a bud.
- Being green, sepals can also carry out photosynthesis.
Corolla (petals):
- The brightly coloured and scented petals attract insects and other agents for pollination.
- They also protect the reproductive organs (stamens and carpels) that lie within them.
Draw a well-labelled diagram of a longitudinal section of a typical flower.
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A longitudinal section of a typical flower shows the sepal, petal, stamen (anther and filament) and carpel (stigma, style and ovary) borne on the thalamus:
Key labels: sepal (calyx), petal (corolla), stamen = anther + filament, and carpel = stigma + style + ovary.
Long answer questions (5 marks)
Describe the structure of a typical flower, explaining the function of each of its four whorls.
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A typical flower is borne on a stalk called the pedicel, whose swollen tip is the thalamus on which the four whorls are arranged:
-
Calyx (sepals): The outermost whorl of green, leaf-like sepals. It protects the developing flower in the bud stage and may carry out photosynthesis.
-
Corolla (petals): The second whorl of brightly coloured, often scented petals. Its function is to attract insects and other pollinators and to protect the inner reproductive whorls.
-
Androecium (stamens): The male reproductive whorl. Each stamen has an anther that produces pollen grains (male gametes) and a filament that supports it.
-
Gynoecium (carpels/pistil): The innermost female whorl. Each carpel has a stigma to receive pollen, a style, and an ovary containing ovules (female gametes) that become seeds after fertilisation.
Thus the outer two whorls are accessory (protective and attractive) and the inner two are essential (reproductive) whorls.
Distinguish between (a) complete and incomplete flowers, and (b) bisexual and unisexual flowers, giving one example of each.
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(a) Complete vs incomplete flower
| Complete flower | Incomplete flower |
|---|---|
| Has all four whorls - calyx, corolla, androecium and gynoecium | Lacks one or more of the four whorls |
| Example: China rose (Hibiscus), Mustard | Example: unisexual flowers such as Papaya, Maize (which lack a whorl) |
(b) Bisexual vs unisexual flower
| Bisexual (hermaphrodite) flower | Unisexual flower |
|---|---|
| Contains both stamens (male) and carpels (female) | Contains only one sex organ - either stamens or carpels |
| Self-pollination is possible | Only cross-pollination is possible |
| Example: Hibiscus, Mustard, Pea | Example: Papaya, Cucumber, Maize |
Note that a flower missing an essential whorl (e.g. a male flower with no carpels) is both unisexual and incomplete.
Case-based questions (4 marks)
A student dissects a Hibiscus (China rose) flower and lays out its parts. He counts 5 green leaf-like structures, 5 large red structures, many yellow dust-bearing stalks fused into a tube, and a central structure ending in five knob-like tips.
(i) Name the whorl formed by the 5 green leaf-like structures and give its function.
(ii) Name the whorl formed by the 5 large red structures.
(iii) The yellow dust on the stalks is important for reproduction. Name this dust and the part that produces it.
(iv) Is this flower bisexual or unisexual? Give a reason.
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(i) The 5 green leaf-like structures form the calyx (sepals). Its function is to protect the flower in the bud stage.
(ii) The 5 large red structures form the corolla (petals), which attract insects for pollination.
(iii) The yellow dust is pollen (pollen grains), and it is produced by the anther of the stamen.
(iv) The flower is bisexual, because it has both the male part (stamens with anthers) and the female part (central carpel with stigmas) in the same flower.
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Frequently asked questions
Do these The Flower questions follow the latest ICSE syllabus?
Yes — they are aligned to the CISCE 2026–27 syllabus for ICSE Class 9 Biology, so nothing here is outside the current course.
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