What are the different parts of a flower?

Flowers allow certain plants called angiosperms to reproduce, so it is not surprising that botanists refer to different parts of a flower in terms of male and female reproductive organs.

Female reproductive system: the carpel or pistil is located in the center of the flower and contains the female organs. There may be one or more pistils. This part of a flower looks like a bowling alley with a rounded lower base which is the ovary. Inside the ovary are reproductive cells or an egg. Coming from the ovary, the pistil is sharpened into a neck called a style, and the button at the top of the neck is the stigma. This part of a flower is sticky. When pollen grains adhere to the stigma by fertilization or pollination by bees, wind, or any other means, the pollen tubes develop inside the stylus or neck. and descend to bury in the ovary or base. Here, the sperm fertilizes an egg or reproductive egg (the single egg). Eventually, the egg becomes a seed.

Some plants do not depend on chance for fertilization, as they also contain the different parts of a flower that form the male reproductive organs. These organs produce pollen.

Male reproductive tract: The stamen is the part of a flower that looks like a thin hair with a follicle at the top. Typically, several stamens surround the pistil (s). The hair is called filament and the follicle is the anther where pollen is produced. The filament and the anther together form the stamen.

Flowers that have male and female reproductive organs are called perfect flowers, while those that have only one or the other are imperfect flowers.

In addition to the pistil (female organs) and stamens (male organs), the outermost whorl is made up of petals, while the small, delicate leaves at the base of the petals are the sepals. The sepals are collectively called calyx. Under the calyx is the stem or peduncle.

Flowers that have pistil, stamens, petals and sepals are called full flowers. Flowers that do not have one or more of these parts are called incomplete flowers.

Flowers that depend on pollinators such as hummingbirds and bees often produce nectar to attract them and bright colors to attract attention. Birds and bees have color vision, and some flowers even have nectar guides, patterns that appear clearly in the ultraviolet range, visible to bees but not to humans. When hummingbirds enter the flower to obtain nectar, or when bees explore the flower, pollen grains attach to the animals to be transferred to other flowers, and pollen from other flowers is deposited. . Therefore, pollination occurs.

In addition to the standard flower described above, there are other types of flowers, such as compound flowers. The sunflower and the daisy are two common examples. Compound flowers are so called because they are actually a composition of dozens of small flowers – of two types – that are arranged to look like a single flower! The center of a sunflower or daisy is made up of dozens of miniature flowers piled next to each other called disc flowers, while each petal of the sunflower or daisy is a jet flower. Together, the jet and disc flowers form many common flowers. Alternatively, dandelions have the head composed only of jet flowers, while thistles have the head composed only of disc flowers.