Tulip's scrambled petals
When even the flower bud covers add color
The cover of a tulip flower bud parts as the flower opens, but
the parts don't just peel back like other bud covers or "sepals." They continue to
grow and color, ending up nearly indistinguishable from the petals.
Could you tell that the pretty pink segment at far left and right,
below, was just a bud cover? Such a tealented sepal earns the name
"tepal."
Other plants, such as lilies, iris and daylily (below) have
tepals. A daylily has three petals (foreground) and three tepals
(behind).
