Flower Parts
Flowers are important in making seeds. Flowers can be made up of different parts, but there are some parts that are basic equipment. The main flower parts are the male part called the stamen and the female part called the pistil.
- The anthers carry the pollen. These are generally yellow in color. Anthers are held up by a thread-like part called a filament.
The pistil has three parts:
- stigma, style, and ovary.
- The stigma is the sticky surface at the top of the pistil; it traps and holds the pollen.
- The style is the tube-like structure that holds up the stigma. The style leads down to the ovary that contains the ovules.
Other parts of the flower that are important are the petals and sepals.
- Petals attract pollinators and are usually the reason why we buy and enjoy flowers.
- The sepals are the green petal-like parts at the base of the flower. Sepals help protect the developing bud.
- Flowers can have either all male parts, all female parts, or a combination.
- Flowers with all male or all female parts are called imperfect (cucumbers, pumpkin and melons).
- Flowers that have both male and female parts are called perfect (roses, lilies, dandelion).
Flower Structure, Pollination and Fertilization
- Seeds and germination
- Insect pollinated flowers and wind pollinated flowers
- Seed dispersal
- Asexual reproduction in plants
- Sample questions and answers
How Do Plants Get Pollinated?
Pollination occurs in several ways. People can transfer pollen from one flower to another, but most plants are pollinated without any help from people. Usually plants rely on animals or the wind to pollinate them.
When animals such as bees, butterflies, moths, flies, and hummingbirds pollinate plants, it's accidental. They are not trying to pollinate the plant. Usually they are at the plant to get food, the sticky pollen or a sweet nectar made at the base of the petals. When feeding, the animals accidentally rub against the stamens and get pollen stuck all over themselves. When they move to another flower to feed, some of the pollen can rub off onto this new plant's stigma.
Plants that are pollinated by animals often are brightly colored and have a strong smell to attract the animal pollinators.
Another way plants are pollinated is by the wind. The wind picks up pollen from one plant and blows it onto another.
Plants that are pollinated by wind often have long stamens and pistils. Since they do not need to attract animal pollinators, they can be dully colored, unscented, and with small or no petals since no insect needs to land on them.
Another way plants are pollinated is by the wind. The wind picks up pollen from one plant and blows it onto another.Glossary
Table of plant reproduction terms
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Germination | the start of growth in a seed |
| Pollination | the transfer of pollen grains from the anther to the stigma |
| Fertilisation | the fusion of the male gamete (the pollen nucleus) with the female gamete (the ovule nucleus) |
| Asexual reproduction | producing offspring from one parent |
| Artificial propagation | producing new plants asexually by methods which humans have invented |
| Clone | a GROUP of genetically identical cells or organisms |
Take the following Quizzes and record your score on notebook paper next to the title of quiz. You must retake quiz until you score 100%.
FLOWER PARTS QUIZ
PARTS OF PLANTS - GAME
LABEL FLOWER PARTS & QUIZ
