− | All flower parts arise from the elongated or enlarged tip of a stem (the receptacle). Flowers for the most part consist of a whorl of colored petals (the corolla), which is surrounded by an outer whorl of green sepals (the calyx) which often look like leaves. The sepals look like the petals in most monocotyledons, and the two alternate around the flower rim. Both are called tepals, or in some genera called perianth segments. | + | All flower parts arise from the elongated or enlarged tip of a stem (the receptacle). Flowers for the most part consist of a whorl of colored petals (the corolla), which is surrounded by an outer whorl of green sepals (the calyx) which often look like leaves. The sepals look like the petals in most monocotyledons, and the two alternate around the flower rim. Both are called tepals, or in some genera called perianth segments. |
| In a bisexual flower's center, the male reproductive organs, known as stamens, surround female parts (or just part) known individually as carpels, collectively as pistils. Every stamen has a pollen producing anther at the end of the filament (a long, slender stalk). Flowers can have one or more carpels. Every carpel has a stigma that receives the pollen, sends it down the style (the stalk of the female organ), to the ovary, which contains one or more ovules. When the ovules become fertilized by the pollen, they develop into seeds, which will have their own nutrients to provide sustenance to an embryo plant until it develops a root system and shoots which will allow it to fuel its own growth. | | In a bisexual flower's center, the male reproductive organs, known as stamens, surround female parts (or just part) known individually as carpels, collectively as pistils. Every stamen has a pollen producing anther at the end of the filament (a long, slender stalk). Flowers can have one or more carpels. Every carpel has a stigma that receives the pollen, sends it down the style (the stalk of the female organ), to the ovary, which contains one or more ovules. When the ovules become fertilized by the pollen, they develop into seeds, which will have their own nutrients to provide sustenance to an embryo plant until it develops a root system and shoots which will allow it to fuel its own growth. |