Cornus Canadensis (Canadian Bunchberry)
Family: Cornaceae
Habitat:
Leaves:
Overview (6 whorled leaves):
Flowers:
Petals:
Center of flower (within are individual flowers with pedicels, pistils, and stamens):
Pistils:
Stamens from a single pistil:
Great job on the bunchberry dissection. Those white floral parts are actually bracts that subtend the flowers. Each of the flowers has 5 tiny petals and the ovary is inferior. Bunchberries are closely related to Hydrangeas, there you can see the bracts even more, it gives the appearance of a larger “flower” to a pollinator, and thus when they come and visit they can get a lot of the small flowers pollinated.