What does corolla mean?
A corolla is the collective term for all of the petals of a single flower, treated as one structural unit. In botanical terms, the corolla forms the inner whorl of the perianth, sitting inside the sepals (which together make up the calyx) and surrounding the stamens and carpels. The shape of a flower's corolla — whether tubular, bell-shaped, wheel-like, or spurred — is often a key feature in identifying plant species and understanding how they are pollinated. Although the word is essentially technical, it appears regularly in field guides, gardening literature, and biology textbooks, and it carries a certain elegance thanks to its origin: it comes from the Latin 'corolla', meaning a small crown or garland, which is also the source of the mathematical term 'corollary'. For anyone reading about flowers beyond a casual level, knowing what a corolla refers to makes descriptions of plant structure considerably clearer.
nounThe corolla is the collective name for all the petals of a flower, forming the inner whorl of the floral envelope that typically surrounds the reproductive organs.
- Botany: the collective term for all the petals of a flower, regarded as one unit and forming the inner floral whorl.
"Each blossom's corolla had unfurled into a pale yellow trumpet by mid-morning."
"The botanist noted that each specimen bore a deeply lobed corolla of vivid violet."
"In the morning light, the pale corolla of the morning glory opened like a small trumpet."
The plural follows standard English noun pluralization and is common in botanical descriptions comparing flowers.
"The two species can be told apart by their corollas: one tubular, the other flat and open."
The word 'corolla' literally means 'little crown' in Latin — and it's the same root that gave us the Toyota Corolla, named to evoke a tiny coronet.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of corolla
The word corolla derives directly from Latin 'corolla', meaning 'a small crown' or 'little garland', itself a diminutive of 'corona' ('crown'). It entered English in the mid-17th century as part of the wave of Latinate terminology that shaped early modern botany. Because the petals of a flower were likened to a small crown, the same root also gave English the word 'corollary', originally meaning something granted or conceded in addition, later applied to propositions that follow from others. Cognates and related terms include 'corona', 'coronette', 'crown', and 'garland'.
Related word forms
How corolla is actually used
"Corolla" is primarily used in botanical, horticultural, and scientific contexts rather than everyday conversation; general readers are more likely simply to say "petals." It is a formal technical word with no figurative or colloquial usage of note.
Easily confused with corolla
A corollary is a proposition that follows readily from another statement or a natural consequence, whereas a corolla is the whorl of petals of a flower — both derive from the same Latin root meaning 'small crown', but they denote entirely different things.