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When dealing with the parts of a flower, we must keep in mind that every flower, no matter how beautiful or ugly, simple or complicated, has only one purpose: to make itself utterly irresistible to whatever type of pollinator it needs (if it needs one at all) to carry on the genetic code which makes it a flower and not a mouse. Photo Credit.
Flowers are used by plants for sexual reproduction. In fact, every single part of a flower is used only for reproduction. As David Dilcher says: 'Flowers are all about sex'. Their only reason for living is to grow, reproduce and then die. Simple!
All of the different parts of a flower are there for no other purpose. You see, we think that flowers are the most beautiful things on earth, but all they care about is making themselves beautiful for one purpose - to attract a mate, to reproduce and carry on their genes to the next generation. It's a bit of a let down when you think about it. Have we been tricked? No more than any lover has ever been tricked by beautiful looks.
But with flowers, I think we can forgive them more readily because they are, after all, totally innocent. That's where their true beauty secret lies. To humans, they are perfect and can do no wrong. But some of them sure can trick their pollinators .... The reproductive parts of a flower can be heavily disguised sometimes and visiting pollinators don't actually know they have anything to do with it anyway. They see or sense only one thing: the dinner!
Anything which carries pollen is called a Vector. This includes Insects (especially Bees), Birds, Wind and Water and nowadays Humans who deliberately mix and match this with that in their plant breeding programs, or simply handle a flower without removing it from the plant. Any animal can be a Vector. Anything which moves things about has the ability to become a Vector. A single raindrop is quite heavy when it lands on a flower, so lots of them can really send things flying, mainly the pollen.
Vectors are also very important in dispersing the seeds. The same Vectors which pollinated the plant can now carry the seeds away to a Goldilocks niche where they can set up business and start growing. The bird eats the seed and depending where it is when it comes out, it may grow into a new plant. Animals eat the seeds. All those bird and animal droppings are vital. Even a bee can carry the tiniest of seeds which we can hardly even see. All Vectors are essential to the development of new plants with flowers. Biotic Vectors are animals, and wind and water are Abiotic Vectors.
We're all used to the typical flowers we see around us every day, but we are in for a few surprises if we look deeper. There are two types of flowers: Typical (perfect) and Non-typical (imperfect) - these are the basic types we need here. Another classification is often confusing, that of the Monocots and Dicots.
This page is about a completely different way of classifying them. It doesn't necessarily involve any other types of flowers, such as those which reproduce Asexually by bulbs, corms and tubers, etc, but there are many plants which do both, such as the Daffodil.
There are a lot of ways of classifying flowers - especially if you are studying Botany - but all we are doing here is talking about their sex life. Just how do they reproduce? Some flowers have both male and female parts (as in the diagrams below)) and some don't. So they are either Perfect or Imperfect. I mean, if the Holly Bush needs another Holly Bush to mate with, that's getting more and more like Humans.
A Holly Bush is either male or female. For Humans, that's normal or Perfect - to be one or the other. In the plant world, however, Perfect means having both male and female parts and being able to fertilize yourself without any help (except from a few Pollinators who visit you). So if you are sitting there waiting for your Holly Bush to produce beautiful red berries for Christmas and it doesn't, you just might need a second Holly Bush.Scroll to the bottom to see how it's done.
The Female Parts of a Flower.
A typical (perfect) flower is Complete. It has a male part and a female part: the Pistil (also called the Carpel). This is made up of the Stigma, the Style and the Ovary. The ovary contains the ovule (or ovules) where fertilization occurs. The Stigma is where the pollen lands. The pollen then grows a tube which moves downwards through the style until it reaches the Ovary. In the maize plant, the pollen tube can grow to 12 inches! The Receptacle contains the Ovary and the Ovule or Ovules. The flower below has three Stigmas which is still normal.
The Male Parts of a Flower.
Perfect flowers also have male parts which are made up of the Stamen which consists of the anther (which has the pollen) and the filament (the little stalk). This is easily seen in a lily. There may be many variations on these parts depending on the flower. Some parts may be fused, disguised or even missing altogether, but we are concerned here with the Typical Flower.
Detailed diagram showing the Reproductive Parts of a Flower.
This is an amazing picture of a Nigella Flower. Why? Because it shows the actual parts which are directly involved in reproduction. It seems to be throwing the other bits off to get down to business. Here you can see that it has lots of Stamens (male bits) but it also shows that it has quite a few Stigmas (female bits where the pollen lands). The dark green Stigmas are what gives this particular flower its really weird look. They are a very peculiar shape. And the pollen tubes would have quite a long way to travel. So yes, some flowers have one Stigma, and some have more than one. I can count six here, I think.
And if the Nigella Flower looks weird, the Passion Flower has got to be weirder still . This little 'beauty' comes equipped with five Anthers and three Stigmas which makes it rather unique. This design must be one of Nature's more unusual achievements. The chocolate colour really stands out, especially highlighting the Stigmas. To see more Passion Flowers, go to Google. Definitely from Outer Space!
The simple standard flower in your backyard eg. the rose bush. It's Perfect and Complete. It has all it needs to ensure pollination. In the above diagram of the parts of a flower: The Pollen is found on the top of each Stamen (male). This is carried to the Stigma (female) where it then grows a pollen tube down to the Ovary where it fertilizes an Ovule and creates a Seed. And as in humans, once an ovule is fertilized it shuts off so that no other pollen can gain access.
Another interesting thing about flowers. So far, we've called them Perfect or Imperfect or Complete. But the Perfect Flowers are also Hermaphrodite. An Earthworm is Hermaphrodite. It would be most unusual for Humans to be Hermaphrodite, because Hermaphrodite means having both Male and Female parts. Perfect flowers can fertilize themselves. Or rather, a pollen vector can do it. But the correct Botanical term for a plant having both male and female parts is 'Bisexual'. The further you dig with Botany, the more 'TERMS'! you find.
If there are no other plants around to 'mate' with, then a visiting insect or bird can fertilize the one flower there and then. And it doesn't even have to move very far. All it has to do is brush against the Anther as it sips the Nectar, thereby transferring minute pollen grains from the Male to the Female parts of the flower, and the job is done. The downside of this type of reproduction is that it doesn't encourage any diversity. All offspring plants would be much the same as the parent plant. That's where Evolution by Natural Selection comes in, giving us a wide diversity of living organisms.
The reason plants are so successful is that they have just so many different ways of being fertilized, giving us so many wonderful specimens to admire.
Can you label this diagram correctly with all the Parts of a Flower?
Petals. The colorful, often bright part of the flower. They attract pollinators and are usually the reason why we buy and enjoy flowers. And, wait for it, petals are 'only' modified leaves which have evolved beautiful colours and perfumes to attract pollinators! But does that mean we've been tricked? Not really, after all, a rose is beautiful no matter what its different parts are called. 'But not if it were called 'a thistle or a skunk cabbage'. Anne of Green Gables.
Sepals are the green parts of the calyx that cover the outside of a flower bud to protect the flower before it opens.
Tepals. Quite often a flower may be said to have Tepals. These are added protection for the bud before it opens. A Lily is a perfect example. And so is a Daffodil. If you look at the next picture, which was just a stroke of luck on my part, you can clearly see the outside Tepals are rounded while the inside Petals (which they protect) are pointy. The perfect example. But the Daffodil can still be said to have six petals, or if you really want to be thorough, it has three of each. BTW, the 'Trumpet' in the centre of the Daffodil is called a 'Corona'. Just another term to add to the list. More protection.
This beautiful Daffodil has three pointy Petals and three rounded Tepals.
The petals, sepals, tepals and nectaries are not directly involved in reproduction. But they are necessary to protect and show off to the world that the plant is, indeed, there. And highlight where to get the nectar from.
So, to answer the very common question : Are all the parts of a flower involved in reproduction, I think we can say 'Yes'. They are all necessary, but some are involved indirectly. And if you put them all together, you get a seed.
Directly Involved.
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Indirectly Involved.
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The beautiful pink Oriental Stargazer Lily shows three distinct Petals and three distinct Tepals (smaller and behind the Petals).
Nectaries are small glands which the plant uses to produce Nectar. And Nectar Guides are specific ways the plant has of leading the pollinators straight to where the pollen is. These may or may not be visible to humans.
Amazing photo of a Nectary producing Nectar.
How we see a flower. The red parts which make our flower special are there only as a guide to the nectar. In a Hibiscus flower, the nectaries are inside the receptacle, at the base.
How 'they' see our garden flowers. In the Ultra Violet (UV) Light. Amazing! In the image on the right, the pollen is highlighted in white. The rest of the flower doesn't matter to the insect.
Other plants may have both male and female parts - but they are located in different parts of the plant or tree. eg. the Pine Tree has female cones at the top and male cones at the bottom. Scientifically, as you can imagine, there are different botanical names for this type of plant, but for our purposes, the Pine Tree is still Bisexual. Both its female and male parts are at least on the same plant. So it's reasonably normal.
'Crateva religiosa'.
This flower is a 'perfect' example of a Perfect, Typical, Complete flower. You can see that it has petals, many stamens and a single pistil or carpel (which consists of a Stigma, a Style and below, out of sight - an Ovary). That's the dark bit poking up where the pollen will land. It also has some buds. Of course, those buds mean that Pollination has been successful. The next generation is assured.
Plants which are Unisexual have only female parts or male parts, but not both, and therefore need another plant of the opposite sex to complete fertilization. eg. the Holly Bush. They are Incomplete or Imperfect. Some other examples are Fig Trees, Gingko, Mulberry Bush and Oak Trees. Vegetables which are Unisexual include the Squash and the Cucumber.
The Holly Tree is either male or female (an Incomplete plant). So if you want offspring you will need one of each.
The Paw Paw Tree can be either Complete or Incomplete. If you have a Paw Paw Tree and it doesn't bear fruit, it's Incomplete. It's either male or female and it will need a mate. Just like us. But if you have a Paw Paw which bears fruit, it's probably Complete, having both sexes on board. Photo Credit.
Read about how the Holly Tree reproduces on GardeningKnowHow.com
Pine trees have both male and female parts. The female cones form at the top and the males at the bottom. When the reproductive season arrives, the female cones open up and fall to the ground. The male cones then open up and release their pollen (sperm) which falls onto an open female cone. When this happens, the female cone closes up again until the fertilized embryo is ready. Then it opens again to let the embryo out. The baby plant is in the form of a winged seed which can be carried a long way to an ideal location where it can send down its roots and grow into a new pine tree or conifer. Now that's amazing! And I think it's kind of romantic.
'The fact that I can plant a seed and it becomes a flower, share a bit of knowledge and it becomes another's, smile at someone and receive a smile in return, are to me continual spiritual exercises'.
Leo Buscaglia