A guide to the gynoecium.

Understanding flower structure is important from many perspectives such as keying out plants, understanding fruit structure, investigating pollinator biology and in plant breeding. Probably the most complicated parts of a flower are the female components (the gynoecium). Unfortunately, for much of the year, in many parts of the world, it is not possible to provide students with the diversity of flowers needed to show an adequate range of gynoecium structure. To overcome these limitations I have developed a web-based tutorial that uses quality photographic images of fresh material of about 50 species to show a wide diversity of gynoecium structure. The tutorial is supported with an interactive test based on 12 species not used in the tutorial. Combined, the tutorial and test allow students to quickly become familiar with a full range of gynoecium structure. The online availability allows students to come better prepared for their introductory flower structure practicals and to review these materials at a later date.