The New Student's Reference Work/Epigynous Flowers

Epig′ynous (ḗ-pĭj′ ĭ-nŭs) Flowers, those in which the sepals, petals and stamens seem to arise from the top of the ovary. In such cases the ovary is often said to be inferior, that is, it is to be seen below the flower, as in the common honeysuckle. The contrasting term is hypogynous. Epigynous flowers are regarded as of higher rank than those that are hypogynous, and in the highest family, the Compositæ, the flowers are all epigynous. The noun form is epigyny. See Flower.