Fivepetalled

Fivepetalled is a descriptive term used in botany and horticulture to denote flowers that have five petals in the corolla. The term is commonly written as five-petalled or fivepetalled and appears in floras, field guides, and herbarium labels. It is a morphological descriptor, not a taxonomic unit, and is used to describe floral structure across many plant groups.

In pentamerous flowers, the corolla consists of five petals. The petals may be free (distinct) or partially fused at the base to form a tube or a tubular corolla. Petal size and shape can vary, but the five-part arrangement is a common feature among many dicotyledonous lineages, while some monocot groups may also show a five-petalled pattern. Fivepetalled flowers can be radially symmetric, though there are notable exceptions with bilateral symmetry in certain lineages, such as many legumes whose flowers display a papilionaceous, bilaterally symmetric form.

Examples and usage: Genera such as Rosa (roses), Prunus (cherries, plums), and Ranunculus (buttercups) frequently have five-petalled flowers. The descriptor is used in identification guides and horticultural labeling to assist in distinguishing species or varieties, typically alongside other traits such as leaf form and inflorescence type. Petal count can vary with development or across cultivars, and some species may deviate from five petals.

See also: petal count, pentamerous symmetry, corolla. The concept emphasizes morphology rather than taxonomy and serves as a practical descriptor in plant descriptions and field observations.