Abstract
The third largest angiosperm family, Leguminosae, exhibits a relatively wide range of variation in morphology of gynoecium. Some of gynoecial patterns found in this taxon are of special interest, as they resemble ones previously described in the earliest angiosperms. The different orientations of carpels in legumes appear easily switchable through changes in flower symmetry and floral meristem sizes. Regardless of orientation of a single carpel with respect to the inflorescence axis, the placenta-bearing suture invariably remains adaxial as related to the floral axis. This conclusion relaxes the existing controversies between the supposed megasporophyll- derived nature of the carpel and observed diversity of placentation in known Mesozoic angiosperms.
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