Growing Up

Flowers are not just pretty smelling things with colourful petals - they have a serious job. Their job is to make seeds.

How do they do it?

Flowers have male and female parts. Some plants even have separate male and female flowers, but most flowers have their male parts and their female parts in the same flower.

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The female part of a flower is shown here.
The seeds form in the ovary which is the round bit at the bottom.

The male parts of a flower are called the stamens.
The stamens make pollen.

What are the petals for?

Petals are there to attract insects.

Why?

Insects take pollen from the male parts of a flower (the stamens) to the female parts of the flower (the stigma). This is called pollination.

What happens next?

When pollen lands on the stigma, it starts to grow. It grows towards the ovary. The pollen then joins up with the egg cells in the ovary. This forms the seeds.

* pic source: Lupin Development Guide