The flower is a modified short shoot, which is adapted to form spores, gametes (sex cells) and cross-pollination. After this process, seeds and fruits are formed. Flowers, whose structure is quite simple, are a very interesting object of study in biology.
Building features
From the point of view of a scientific approach, each plant is a whole system that exists according to its own rules. Flowers structure have the following. Their stem part is a combination of a pedicel and a receptacle on which the leaves are located (they are scientifically called florists). Flower stalks include sepals, stamens and pistils, as well as petals. Most often, these components are located around the center in several rows. If a plant has both stamens and pistils, then they are called bisexual, or hermaphrodites. Dioecious have either stamens (in this case, the male flower) or pistils (talking about the female variety).
Perianth is another component that flowers have. Its structure is such that it acts as a kind of protector of the plant and the main attractor of pollinators. The perianth can be of different colors (in this case it is double), or it can be painted in just one color - in this case they speak of a simple variety. The stamen, which is the male part of the plant, includes the filament and the anther. In the very center of the flowers is a pistil (by the way, there may be several of them). It consists of the ovary, style and stigma. The structural features of the flower are such that the stigma is involved in the release of a sticky liquid, with the help of which pollen grains are captured and held. Thus, each flower consists of:
- pistle;
- stamens;
- corolla;
- petals;
- subbowl;
- receptacle;
- knots;
- internodes;
- pedicels.
Flowers, the structure of which may differ, vary depending on the number of parts, their location and shape. For example, plants that have stamens and pistil at the same time are called bisexual. If there is either a stamen or a pistil, then the flower is scientifically called same-sex. The plant may consist of several flowers, which are collected in inflorescences, and may be single. Of course, in the presence of inflorescences, it will pollinate faster, while the flowers will be less damaged as a result of exposure to adverse environmental factors. Inflorescences, in turn, can also be of two types: simple (the flower is located on the main axis) or complex (there are flowers of several orders).
Biology defines the structure of a flower as a complex apparatus, in which all its components participate at once. For example, when pollen matures, the anthers begin to burst, causing the pollen to end up on the stigma of the pistil. This is where pollination takes place. By the way, it can occur crosswise, which occurs most often, but sometimes self-pollination occurs. The peculiarity of the cross method is that pollen is carried by wind, water, insects, birds, and so on.
