Why do Plants Have Flowers?

Plants have flowers so they can reproduce! The flowers are the parts of the plant where seeds are made. Seeds contain all the genes to produce a new plant. The seed’s parents are two flowers of the same species. Pollen from male part of one flower is carried to the female part of another flower

What are the Male Parts of the Flower? STAMENS are the thin stalks around the center of the flower. ANTHERS sit on top of the stamens. They hold the tiny grains of pollen.

ANTHERS with POLLEN grains STAMENS

What are the Female Parts of the Flower? The PISTIL is made of the STIGMA, STYLE, and the OVARY. The STIGMA is sticky to catch the pollen. The OVARY is at the bottom. It contains egg cells called the OVULES. These will form new seeds.

STIGMA PISTIL OVARY

Female & Male Parts of the Flower

How does Pollination Happen? A pollinator visits a flower to get nectar or pollen to eat. Pollen from the anther sticks to the pollinator. The pollinator moves to another flower. Some pollen from the first flower lands on the sticky stigma (part of the pistil).

What is Pollination? POLLEN from the male part of one flower is carried to the female part of another flower

Fertilization! The pollen grain grows a tube from the stigma down to the ovary. 2. The sperm cell travels down the tube and joins with the egg inside the ovary.

into an embryo surrounded by cotyledons and a seed coat. 3. The fertilized egg grows into an embryo surrounded by cotyledons and a seed coat. 4. The ovary turns into a fruit!