Parts of a Flower and their Functions

Many flowers have male parts and female parts.

Male part Stamen
The stamen has two parts
Anthers Pollen producing part
Filaments They hold up the anthers
Female part Pistil
The pistil has three parts
Stigma Sticky surface at the pistils top, where the
pollen germinates
Style Holds up the stigma
Ovary Contains the ovules
o Ovules Become the seed after fertilization by
pollen
Other Parts of the Flower
Petals Usually bright, to attract pollinators
Sepals Protect the flower bud when it is developing
Receptacle Portion of the stalk with the flower
structure
Peduncle Flower stalk

Life Cycle of Seed Plants

An essential characteristic of a seed plant is that it begins its life as an embryonic

plant inside the protective covering of a seed. When conditions are rightfor example,
when it has been exposed to water for a period of timethe seed germinates. As the
young plant develops, stems and roots grow. The plant reaches maturity when it is able
to reproduce by creating new seeds.
Seed plants that reproduce through the pollination of flowers are called
angiosperms. Angiosperms have male and female parts that work together to create a
new plant. The male parts are the stamensa filament and anther (where the pollen is
produced). The female part is the pistilthe stigma, style, and ovary (where the eggs
are produced in ovules). When a flower is pollinated, often with the help of birds or
insects, pollen lands on the sticky surface of the stigma. It then travels down the style,
which serves as a pathway to the ovary. An egg fertilized by pollen becomes a zygote;
as the zygote develops, it becomes an embryonic plant. The embryo, along with the
endosperm that nourishes the embryo, is enclosed within the protective shell of a seed.
Meanwhile, the surrounding ovary also grows and becomes the fruit that contains the
seeds.

Seed plants vary greatly in the time that they take to cycle through their
developmental stages. For example, some plants may take just a few weeks to reach
maturity while others take years before they are able to produce seeds. Likewise, some
flowers last just a few hours while others can last for weeks.
However, not all seed plants are flowering plants. Seed plants that do not have
flowerssuch as cycads, ginkgo, and conifersare called gymnosperms. Conifers are
common gymnosperms; instead of flowers, conifers have cones that produce pollen or
eggs. Male cones are smaller and soft, and female cones are large and hard. Wind
carries pollen from the male cone to the female cone. As the eggs are pollinated and
seeds develop, the scales of the cone open up to release the seeds.
Furthermore, not all plants are seed plants. Some plants, such as ferns and
mosses, reproduce with spores instead of seeds. Spores, like seeds, can survive harsh
conditions and develop into new plants; however, unlike seeds, spores are produced
without fertilization and contain neither a plant embryo nor endosperm. Some plants can
reproduce without spores or seeds through vegetative reproduction, in which a part of
the stem or root gives rise to a new plant.