Anatomy of Flowers

Flowers are the bright and showy parts of many plants. Their function is to help plants reproduce, by mixing their pollen and eggs with other members of their species. These are the main structures found in anatomy of flowers:

Petals – The petals of a flower are actually leaves that are changed to become brighter and showier in order to attract insects to the flower.  Pollinating insects like bees will collect pollen in their hairs from one flower and deliver it to the carpel of another flower as they fly around collecting nectar.

Sepals – Sepals are also modified leafs that protect flower buds before they bloom and also support the petals of blossomed flowers.

Carpel – The carpel is the ‘female’ part of the flower.  It has three parts, the stigma, style, and ovary.  The stigma is the opening to the carpel, the style is a long tube leading to the ovary, and the ovary is the center of egg production in the flower.  Eggs are produced in the ovules inside the ovary, and when fertilized with pollen, each ovule will develop into a seed.  Some flowers have only one carpel, some have many carpels that are stuck together, and others have many independent carpels.

Stamen – The stamen in the ‘male’ part of the flower.  It consists of a thin, stem-like filament with an anther on top.  The anther is where the flower’s pollen is located.

Receptacle –   The receptacle is the enlarged part of the stem that the flower is attached to.  In some flowers, the receptacle will become part of the fruit once the flower has been fertilized.

If you are done with anatomy of flowers, check out our interesting article about parts of flowering plants!