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Flowers are the reproductive parts of a plant. They contain both male and female organs, and after pollination and fertilization, produce seeds. Seeds have the genetic material as well as enough stored food to enable them to sprout and grow into a new plant when environmental conditions are right.
Male Sex Organs
The male portions of the flower are the stamens and it is at their tips, called the anthers, that the pollen is produced.
Female Sex Organs
The female part of the flower is called the pistil. The pistil is made up of the stigma, the style and the ovary, which contains the ovules. The ovules are the eggs, destined to become seeds.
Pollination
Flowers can self pollinate, but normally rely on insects and animals for help. As an insect visits a flower for nectar its body picks up pollen from the male anthers. When it visits the next flower, some of that pollen is left on the female stigma, which has a sticky surface. The flower has then been pollinated.
Fertilization
The pollen grains then grow pollen tubes that travel down the style to the ovary. Once there, the ovules are fertilized.
Seeds
The fertilized ovules grow into seeds. Some grow inside the ovary, which transforms into a fruit. Depending on the species, there could be one or many seeds inside the fruit. Plants that depend on wind dispersal grow large quantities of tiny seeds with wings or filaments that can be carried off in the slightest breeze. The dandelion is such an example.
Fruits
Fruits are meant to entice animals and insects to eat them. Animals that ingest the fruits will disperse the seeds elsewhere in their droppings, aiding seed dispersal. Apples are a good example of fruits.
Source:
Missouri Botannical Garden: Biology of Plants, Seed Dispersal
Estrella Mountain Community College: Maricopa Flowering Plant Reproduction
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