Perfect
- For the mathematical concept, see perfect number; the grammatical idea is described in perfect tense.
In
botany and
mycology, an organism is considered
perfect if it is capable of
sexual reproduction. If it isn't, it is
imperfect. The term perfect has nothing to do with the quality of an organism.
The exact idea of being perfect or imperfect varies somewhat between
plants and
fungi.
All fungi in the division
Deuteromycota cannot undergo any form of sexual reproduction.
All nonflowering
seed plants are imperfect in relation some
angiosperms. This is because their reproductive organs are
either male or female. This does not mean one single plant would have both seed and pollen cones. So
gymnosperms are either
dioecious or
monoecious but never both.
A
flower is called
perfect (synoecious) if it has both
male and
female reproduction organs. That is, it has both stamens and an
ovary (staminate and carpellate). If a plant has separate male and female flowers (but on same individual), it is
dioecious. If a plant has male or female flowers on separate individuals, it is
monoecious.
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