Ray floret

A ray floret is a flower in the outer part of a composite flower head, typically with a strap-shaped corolla. It often contributes to the head’s showy, petal-like margin.

Capitulum: A compact flower head in which many small flowers are arranged on a shared receptacle. A ray floret is one of the individual flowers packed into this head.
Zygomorphy: Bilateral symmetry in which a flower can be divided into matching halves along one plane. The strap-like corolla often gives a ray floret bilateral rather than radial symmetry.
Plant identification: The process of determining a plant’s identity from its observable traits and other evidence. Ray-floret presence, shape, and arrangement help distinguish composite plants.
Sunflower: A tall annual plant of the genus Helianthus, with a large head of disc florets and often yellow ray florets. Its familiar yellow margin is made of ray florets surrounding the central disc.
Disc floret: A usually tubular flower found in the central region of many composite flower heads. Disc florets occupy the head’s center, unlike ray florets at its margin.
Floral symmetry: The arrangement of a flower’s parts around one or more axes of symmetry. Ray florets differ in symmetry from the radially symmetric disc florets beside them.
Floral display: The visible arrangement and presentation of flowers or flower-like structures. Ray florets form much of the conspicuous outer display of many flower heads.
Dandelion: A flowering plant whose yellow flower head consists of strap-shaped florets. Each floret in a dandelion head has a strap-shaped corolla characteristic of ray florets.
Involucre: A ring or series of bracts surrounding a flower head or an inflorescence. These bracts enclose and support the flower head that bears ray florets.
Floral organ: A specialized structure of a flower, such as a sepal, petal, stamen, or carpel. A ray floret has the floral organs that determine its form and reproductive function.

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