A flower is also known as bloom or blossom. There is a huge variety of flowers with different colors and scents. As it is the basic reproductive organ of the plant, it supports the entire growth process. The flower is found in every botanical garden, park, forest, mountains, gross, and different natural places wherever a plant exists.
What is A Flower?
A flower is the reproductive part of flowering plants. They mostly contain both male and female parts. When the pollen from the male part reaches the female part, the flower is fertilized. As a result, it gives seeds or fruits from which the next generation of that plant is born.
Parts Of A Flower
The parts of a flower are mainly divided into two categories, which are:
- Vegetative Parts
- Reproductive Parts
Vegetative Parts
The vegetative parts of a flower are those which enable and protect its growth. They are the outermost parts of a flower. The calyx is a main vegetative part based on sepals. And corolla is another vegetative part based on petals. These parts cover the reproductive parts to save them from bugs.
Sepals
Sepals are a modified form of leaves that are located on the base of a flower. They are mostly green in color, but can also have other colors. Their purpose is to protect the flower during its development. They are collectively known as calyx.
Petals
Petals are also a modified form of leaves that are located around the reproductive parts of a flower. Petals can be of different colors and help to attract the pollinators like bees and other insects. Besides the color, petals also have different scents in them. They are collectively known as the corolla.
Reproductive Parts
They are two types of reproductive parts; male and female parts. The interaction of these parts starts the process of fertilization in which seeds and fruits develop.
Male Parts
The male parts in a flower are called androecium. They contain three units called stamen, anther, and filament. Their work is to produce and transfer the pollen to female parts during the process of pollination. Pollen is in the form of a powder that contains male DNA and it needs to reach the female part for fertilization.
- Stamen – It is an organ of a flower that produces pollen for reproduction. It consists of anther and filaments. It works for transporting water, salt, and other nutrients from the filament to the anther. Moreover, stamen helps the anther in maintaining its position for ejecting the pollens.
- Anther – It is the top part of the stamen which produces pollen. It has two round-shaped structures that contain spores or structures with holes. These spores produce pollens from them during the time of pollination.
- Filaments – It is a long and thin structure located below the anther. It is also a part of stamen, and supports the anther to stay on top. Moreover, filaments provide a path for sex cells to travel through it to the anther from the bottom of a flower.
Female Parts
Female parts of a flower are called gynoecium. These parts work for the growth of an egg in the ovule of a flower and play their part during the process of pollination.
- Pistil – The pistil is the main female organ in the flower. It consists of stigma, style, and ovary and they are collectively called carpels. Like the stamen in the male organ of a flower, the pistil is exactly opposite to it in the female part of a flower. Its work is to receive pollen from the male organ during pollination and transmit them down to the stigma and the ovary.
- Stigma – Like the anther of the male organ of a flower, the stigma is also located on top of the female organ. The stigma has to catch the pollen from the male organ by various methods and send them down to the ovary through style.
- Style – The style is the middle part of a female flower. It looks like a stalk structure and connects stigma with the ovary. Like filament in the male organ of a flower, style serves the same purpose in the female organ of a flower. It helps deliver the pollens from stigma to the ovary.
- Ovary – The ovary is located on the base of the pistil and contains ovules. Upon receiving pollen, the ovary combines pollens and ovules and grows them in the form of seeds or fruits. As a result, the fruits or seeds grow out after fertilization. These seeds or seeds inside fruits when germinate in the soil, produce new plants.
Pollination and Its Types
There are mainly two kinds of pollination: cross-pollination and self-pollination.
Self-Pollination – It occurs in flowers which have both anther and stigma together. The pollen from the anther is reached quite easily to stigma in this type of pollination.
Cross-Pollination – It takes place between two different flowers of a plant, or between two different plants. During cross-pollination, the pollen from the anther (male part) of a flower reaches to stigma (female part) of a flower.
Facts
- The largest flower in the world is Rafflesia arnoldii that is mostly found in the forests of Indonesia. It can grow to a size of 3 feet in diameter and can weigh around 4 Kg.
