What it does
A floral formula describes a whole flower in one line of symbols, and a floral diagram shows the same flower as if you sliced across the bud and looked down from above. This page makes both from your choices:
- Symmetry: ⊕ actinomorphic (radial) or % zygomorphic (one plane of symmetry).
- Sex: ⚥ bisexual, ♂ male (stamens only) or ♀ female (carpels only).
- Calyx K (sepals) and corolla C (petals), or perianth P when sepals and petals look alike (as in lilies).
- Androecium A (stamens), with an option for epipetalous stamens attached to the petals.
- Gynoecium G (carpels), joined (syncarpous) or free, with the ovary superior (line under G) or inferior (line over G).
Counts are written as in a real formula: 5 for five free parts, (5) for five joined parts, 1+2+(2) for groups, 3+3 for two whorls, ∞ for many. The diagram draws the whorls as rings (sepals outside, then petals, stamens, and the ovary in the middle with one chamber per joined carpel), with joined parts linked by a grey band and the mother axis as a dot at the top.
It fits the Class 11 biology chapter on the morphology of flowering plants (the flower, and the description of some important families). See where flowers fit in a plant’s life cycle on the life cycle wheel, and the five-kingdom sorter sorter for where plants sit among living things.
How to use it
- Start from one of four families, or change anything to describe your own flower.
- Tap the symmetry and sex buttons. Tick Sepals and petals look alike to use P instead of K and C.
- Type each whorl. The box under the inputs explains the notation; a mistake (an unclosed bracket, a letter) shows a message instead of the formula.
- Tick Carpels joined and epipetalous as needed, and choose the ovary position.
- Read the formula in proper notation (counts as subscripts, the ovary line, an arc over C and A when stamens are on the petals), the same formula in plain text, the diagram, and a description in words.
Worked example
Pick the pea family (Fabaceae). The formula reads % ⚥ K(5) C1+2+(2) A(9)+1 G1, with a line under G:
- %: zygomorphic, so the diagram has a dashed line of symmetry;
- K(5): five sepals joined into a cup;
- C1+2+(2): one large standard petal (drawn bigger, at the top), two wings, and two keel petals joined (linked by the grey band);
- A(9)+1: ten stamens, nine joined and one free (“diadelphous”);
- G1: a single carpel with a superior ovary.
Now pick the potato family. The arc over C(5) A5 shows that the stamens grow from the petal tube. Untick epipetalous and the arc goes.
Tips
- Sepals and petals usually alternate, and so do petals and stamens: the diagram staggers the rings for that reason.
- For a monocot, look for parts in threes: P(3+3) A3+3 G(3) in the lily family.
- A unisexual flower leaves out what it lacks: a male flower has no G, a female flower no A.
FAQ
Why is my flower’s diagram not exactly like a textbook one? Textbook diagrams are drawn by hand for each family, with parts in their real positions and shapes. This page places parts evenly round each ring, so it shows the counts, fusion and order correctly but not every detail of shape.
Can I use other symbols? The page uses the common symbols of school botany. Some books write Ca and Co for calyx and corolla, or Br for a bract; they mean the same thing.
Is anything stored? No. Everything runs in your browser. fibub is not part of NCERT; the topics follow the syllabus, but the words and drawings are our own.
Where the numbers come from
- Floral formula symbols (⊕, %, ⚥, K, C, P, A, G, brackets for fused parts, lines for ovary position) and the family formulas of Brassicaceae, Fabaceae, Solanaceae and Liliaceae are standard botany. The tool, its wording and its drawings are fibub's own; no textbook text, figures or diagrams are copied.
- Floral diagrams here are simplified: parts are spaced evenly, and the shapes are symbols, not drawings of real flowers.
Standard scientific values, such as constants, atomic weights and melting points, are facts found in every textbook; we name where ours were checked. If you are an author or publisher and want a value, a credit or a table changed or removed, tell us and we will act quickly.
Last updated 2026-11-09.