Stephanie Wright Blog Post #7

Angiosperms are all around the world, nearly every plant is an angiosperm. Angiosperms are defined as plants that have flowers and produce seeds. Broccoli plants are just one species of the 300,000 species classified as angiosperms. Angiosperms reproduce sexually. The pistil (female) and the stamen (male) make up the reproductive parts of the broccoli flower. The pistil includes the stigma, style, and ovary. The stigma is where pollen germinates, the style supports the stigma and allows pollen to travel to the ovary, and the ovary contains ovules that can be fertilized to create an embryo. The stamen includes anthers and filaments. Anthers create pollen, and filaments support the anthers. Though nonsexual, petals are also an important part of flowers. Petals function as an attraction for pollinators. Pollinators include bees, hummingbirds, and butterflies. In cross pollination, pollinators transfer pollen from one plant to another. This process is called pollination. Pollen contains male sex cells, also known as gametes which are haploid cells. The pollen lands on the stigma and goes to the ovary by creating a tube in the style. In the ovary, ovules can join with a sperm cell (pollen) to become fertilized. This creates a diploid cell known as an embryo (seed). The ovary then becomes the fruit. This process is known as fertilization.


Below is a photo of a broccoli flower as seen with the naked eye. Even without magnification, the stamen and parts of the pistil are visible as well as the petals and stem. 

This image shows a magnified view of the center of the flower. While the majority of this photo is composed of the brightly colored petals, 6 anthers, the stigma, and the style are clearly visible. The stigma is the sticky, spherically shaped organ in the center of the image. It is where pollen enters the flower. Supporting it is the style.


In this image, 6 stamen and a full pistil structure are shown. The top portion of the stamen is the anther. It produces pollen. This pollen can be dispersed to other flowers by pollinators. The stalk holding up the anther is the filament. Together, the filament and anther make up the stamen.


This is a magnified image of the pistil. As previously mentioned, it is comprised of the stigma, style, and ovary. While not pictured, the ovary is at the base of the pistil. It supports the style much like a filament supports an anther. The style connects the ovary to the stigma. A tube is created down the style to the ovary. The pollen on the stigma travels through the tube in the style all the way to the ovary where it can be fertilized.

In this photo, only the pistil remains. The ovary is the bigger part of the stalk. Inside are ovules. When ovules are fertilized, seeds are formed. In the image, the ovary is cut open and some ovules are visible. A clearer one is shown to the left of the pistil.

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