New Mexico FFA Floriculture Practice Test

Flowers that possess sepals, petals, stamens, and pistils are characterized as complete flowers. This terminology is used in botany to denote a flower that contains all the essential parts necessary for reproduction. The sepals protect the flower bud before it blooms, the petals often attract pollinators, the stamens are the male reproductive organs that produce pollen, and the pistils are the female reproductive structures that contain the ovary, style, and stigma.

In contrast, incomplete flowers are missing one or more of these essential parts, which would include flowers that might have either stamens or pistils but not both, for example. Simple flowers refer to a single flower that is not composed of multiple smaller flowers, which would be different from compound flowers that are formed by the arrangement of multiple flowers, or florets, typically in a cluster. Thus, the definition of complete flowers specifically highlights the presence of all key reproductive structures, making it the correct choice.