SSC CGL 2024 Tier-I · 13 September 2024, Shift 3 · General Awareness · Question 14 of 98

Text as printed on a candidate's response sheet for this shift; answer per SSC's tentative key as marked on that sheet. Solution last reviewed 6 September 2026.

Where this paper and its answers come from

SSC does not publish CGL question papers or a public answer key. The questions and options here are reproduced as printed on a candidate's own response sheet for this shift — the Commission's text, unchanged. Each answer is SSC's tentative key as marked on that sheet; SSC allowed challenges to it and never publishes a final key. The solutions are written by UnlockIAS.

Which of the following is NOT a component of a flower?

(a)Androecium
(b)Spines
(c)Calyx
(d)Corolla

Answer

Why

Correct — B. A typical flower carries four whorls on the thalamus: calyx, corolla, androecium and gynoecium.

Spines are not one of them. A spine is a modified leaf — a vegetative structure that cuts water loss and deters grazing animals.

Three names in the list are floral whorls and one belongs to the leaf. The odd one out is option (b).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
Androecium — Androecium is the third whorl, the stamens taken together. Each stamen has an anther on a filament and makes pollen, so it is very much a component of the flower.
(c)
Calyx — Calyx is the outermost whorl, made of sepals. They are usually green and protect the bud before it opens, which is why they are mistaken for leaves rather than parts of the flower.
(d)
Corolla — Corolla is the whorl of petals, coloured and often scented to attract pollinators. It sits just inside the calyx and is a defining part of the flower.

Concept

A flower is a modified shoot whose leaves have specialised into whorls arranged on a swollen tip, the thalamus.

Calyx (sepals) and corolla (petals) are the accessory whorls, doing protection and attraction. Androecium (stamens) and gynoecium (carpels) are the essential whorls, because they produce the gametes.

Spines, thorns and tendrils belong to the vegetative body instead: a spine is a modified leaf, a thorn a modified stem.

SSC builds a NOT question by listing three members of one set and one outsider. Read the stem twice — the operative word is NOT — because three familiar technical names invite you to pick whichever one you recognise least.

Key facts

The four whorls of a typical flower are calyx, corolla, androecium and gynoecium.
Androecium is the collective name for the stamens, gynoecium for the carpels.
Calyx and corolla are called accessory whorls, androecium and gynoecium essential whorls.
A spine is a modified leaf, an adaptation that reduces water loss and deters herbivores.

Study next

Whorls of a typical flower and the function of eachModifications of leaves: spines, tendrils and phyllodesComplete and incomplete flowers

Common traps

Skipping the word NOT and picking androecium because it is the least familiar term.
Confusing a spine, which is a modified leaf, with a thorn, which is a modified stem.

Plant biology returns in a use-of-plants form at GA Q.6 of this same shift, which asks which plant is used to cure cold and cough.

Learn the four whorls as a list you can recite, because a NOT question rewards knowing the whole set.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.