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in these flowers the ovule(s), although enclosed, are borne directly on the floral apex. Therefore, the carpel has been redefined as an appendage that encloses ovule(s) and may or may not bear them. However, the most unobjectionable definition of the carpel is simply that of an appendage that encloses an ovule or ovules. Carpels vary enormously in size from a few micrometres in Balanophora involucrata and in many orchids to 2.5 m long and 12 cm wide in Entada gigas.

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