The Reproduction of Flowers

Parts of a Flower

• Every flower has both male and female reproductive segments. The male organs are part of the flower's stamen, while the female organs make up the pistil.

The Reproduction Process

• A flower begins the process of reproducing when pollen produced by the stamen makes contact with a flower's stigma, part of the pistil. The carpel, another part of the pistil, produces the seeds that lead to producing each new plant. Flowers can also self-fertilize, if their own pollen settles on their own stigma.

Transfer of Pollen

• Flowers rely on the wind and insects to carry pollen from one flower to another. Wind carries pollen long distances where it lands on other flowers. The bright colors and sweet nectar of flowers attract insects like bees. As the bees take up the nectar, pollen sticks to their bodies. When they alight on other flowers, they involuntarily transfer the pollen.