Flower Parts & Their Functions

Parts of a Flower & Their Functions – As many people already know, flowers are very beautiful ornamental plants that are liked by many people, especially women. The beauty of flowers varies greatly depending on the type of flower itself. Everyone will choose the type of flower according to their wishes.

Flowers can also be used as a sweetener or room decoration. In addition to beautifying the room, flowers give a fragrant aroma to the room. A beautiful and fragrant room can make you more comfortable and more comfortable living in that room. So, is your room already decorated with flowers?

Flowers are indeed very beautiful, but do you already know the parts of a flower and their functions? Each part of the flower will work or perform their respective functions. By knowing the parts and functions of flowers, you can take care of and plant flowers to the fullest.

For those of you who want to know or get to know the parts of a flower and their functions, then you can read this article to the end. Enjoy reading and see the explanation below.

 

Definition of Flowers

Flowers in Latin are called flos . The flower itself can be said to be a means of sexual reproduction in flowering plants. In general, these flowers are in the magnoliophyta or angiospermae divisions . The two divisions mean closed seed plants.

However, the majority of botanists say that a flower is a short piece of stem or branch that has several clusters of specialized leaves. In other words, flowers are a mixture of leaves and stems that function to help a closed fertilization system.

Basically, plants really need flowers for reproduction. In the process of breeding, flowers need animals to pollinate. To attract animals to want to help pollinate flowers, the flower colors are very bright.

As we know that the plant itself has roots, stems and leaves. Thus, the flower is not part of the plant but a combination of one of the combinations. This is because the reproduction that occurs in plants using seeds is called generative reproduction.

The Function of Flowers As Generative Propagation

1. Plant Reproductive Organs

The flower itself has the function of combining or uniting the fusion of sperm or male gametes and ovules or female gametes. With this, seed production will be carried out. The arrangement or arrangement of flowers in a stalk is called flowering. The reproductive organs in flowers are known as stamens and pistils.

2. Attracts the Pollinator

As we know that there are animals whose main food is nectar. Meanwhile, flowers have nectar or sweet liquid. If using mutualism symbiosis, the nectar in the flowers will be taken as food, at that time pollination of the flowers occurs.

During pollination, pollen is transferred from the male flower head to the female stigma. Thus, the meeting of pollen and pistil will result in the decay of gametes in plants.

3. Producing Nectar or Flower Sarees

Flowers always produce nectar. The nectar in flowers is very rich in sugar, so nectar is called the sweet liquid in flowers. This sweet liquid is produced when the plant is in bloom.

When the flowers are in bloom, that’s when the nectar-eating animals will be attracted to come to the flowers. The more animals that are interested, the faster the pollination process will occur.

4. Beautiful Parts of Plants

It is not uncommon for flowers to be a beautiful part of plants. Therefore, flowers always have bright colors and a variety of interesting shapes. If the plant does not have flowers, maybe the plant will be less attractive.

Bright colors and varied shapes make flowers can be used as ornamental plants. Therefore, until now flowers are still favored by many people to be used as ornamental plants in their yards.

Flower Parts

As we know that the parts of a flower have their respective functions. To find out more clearly what the parts of the flower are, let’s look at the explanation below.

1. Sterile Parts

The sterile part of the flower is divided into two, namely the petals and the flower corolla. See the explanation of the two parts below.

a) Flower Petals ( calix )

Petals or calyx is the outermost part of the flower. The color of the flower petals is usually green like the color of the leaves. At first glance, these flower petals are almost similar to leaves. Flower petals are smaller than leaves.

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Then what is the function of flower petals? The function of the flower petals is to protect young flowers and protect the buds when the flowers are developing. If there are no flower petals, it is likely that the flower will not develop optimally.

b) Flower Crown ( corolla )

The crown is always synonymous with something beautiful and usually attracts attention. Likewise, the flower crown always has a bright color to attract the attention of nectar-eating animals. The flower crown is generally larger than the flower petals.

Although, generally the color of the flower crown is brightly colored, but sometimes the color is not so bright or flashy. Not only that, in some flowers, there are crowns that depend on the wind or water. Why so? Because with wind or water, the pollination process can be easier.

The flower crown serves to attract nectar-eating animals to the flower. The pollination process can occur one of them because the animals that eat nectar look for food in flowers.

Where does the color of the flower crown come from? The colors of the flower crowns come from pigments in the chloroplasts called carotenoids. Meanwhile, in cell fluids, they are called flavonoids . Although it is usually caused by these two pigments, sometimes the color of the flower crown can be caused by changes in the similarity of the cell fluids.

Basically the structure of the petals and corolla of this flower is similar to the structure of the leaves. The similarity lies in the ground parenchyma tissue, vascular tissue, and epidermal tissue.

2. The Fertile Section 

This fertile part is the reproductive part of the flower. The flower itself has two fertile parts, namely the stamens or stamens and pistils or pistilum . For more details, let’s look at the explanation as follows.

a) Stamens or Male Genitals ( stamen )

The first fertile part is the stamens or stamens . Stamens are the male reproductive organs. In other words, this stamen organ produces male sex cells in plants.

The stamens have a constituent part called filamin. This filament generally has a shape like a stalk and usually has an antenna at the end. The antenna on this filamin is the location where pollen grains are formed.

In general, stamens are divided into three parts. First, the stamen ( filamenum ), this stamen is the part of the stamen that has a thread-like shape with a transverse diameter and is usually round in shape.

Second, the anther ( anther ), the anther is the part of the stamen whose position or location is at the end of the stamen. In general, the anther has two chambers or theca , then each chamber is further divided into two smaller chambers or loculumum .

Third, connecting the sari chambers or connecting parts of the stamens which are located on the right and left between the anthers and the anthers. In other words, the anthers and anthers are connected by means of a connecting rod or konektivum .

Where are the male sex cells (male gametes) located? The male sex cells are located in the anthers. Inside the pollen chamber there are male sex cells or commonly known as pollen or pollen .

Thus, the function of the stamens is to pollinate the flower. However, there are some stamens that are categorized as barren stamens. Barren stamens occur because the pollen is unable to carry out or reproduce pollination.

b) Pistils or Female Genitals ( pistillum )

After discussing the male reproductive organs in flowers, now is the time to discuss the female reproductive organs in flowers. Flowers have female reproductive organs or organs known as pistils.

This pistil organ is formed from one or more carpels and this pistil is located in the center of the flower. Collections of carpels are called Ginocium .

Like stamens, pistils also have three parts. Each of these parts has different functions and tasks. First, the stigma ( stigma ), the stigma is located at the very top of the pistil. The stigma is generally sticky because the stigma is a place for pollen to stick.

Second, the pistil ( stylus ), the pistil is shaped like a long tube. The function of the stigma is to attach or connect the stigma with the ovary. In addition, the stigma is usually shaped like a thread.

Third, the ovary ( ovary ), this ovary is usually located at the bottom or base of the flower. In addition, when you are storing eggs, these ovaries usually look enlarged. In short, the ovary is the room or place in which there are seeds.

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The pistil itself has an egg cell called an ovules or ovulum . These seeds will turn into seeds or cement after being fertilized by sperm from the stamens.

The function of this pistil is a place or container for pollen originating from the stamens or male reproductive organs in flowers. In simple terms, after the pistil has been fertilized by sperm from pollen, then this pistil will grow and turn into an institutional bladder. It is this organ bladder that produces new plants in flowers (breeds).

Breeding In Flowers

From the results of the previous discussion, it can be said that the reproductive organs in flowering plants are stamens or male cells and pistils or female cells. Then what is the process of reproduction that occurs in flowering plants?

1. Flowering plants reproduce or reproduce by forming a seed.

2. These seeds come from the formation that occurs from male sex cells and female sex cells. The male sex cells are in the form of pollen and the female sex cells are in the form of fruit.

3. The thing that must be underlined in the reproduction of flowering plants is the process of fertilization where the pollen (male) must enter the inside of the pistil (female).

Every breeding in flower plants is always accompanied by pollination. The process of pollination is the process by which the pollen reaches the pistil through the thread. Pollination is divided into two types of pollination, namely self-pollination and cross-pollination.

1. Self-pollinated

Self-pollination can only occur in the same flower plant or a different flower plant, but still in the same type. Self-pollination can be seen in barley, long bean, sesame, rice, beans, and others. However, self-pollination has a drawback, namely the seeds produced from this pollination cannot germinate.

Self-pollination is still divided into two types, namely natural self-pollination and artificial self-pollination.

Natural self-pollination is pollination that occurs when flowering plants have complete reproductive organs. Complete reproductive organs consist of stamens and pistils that are in one flower. In other words, flower plants that do not have complete reproductive organs cannot self-pollinate naturally.

Artificial self-pollination is pollination that occurs due to human intervention. Self-pollination assisted by human intervention is called self-crossing or selfing . The workings of this pollination, such as humans will collect the existing stamens on the stamens, then the pollen is placed on the stigma of the same flower plant.

2. Cross pollination

After discussing cross pollination, now what will be discussed is cross pollination. Cross pollination is the pollination of the stamens and the stigma that occurs in two different plants.

In the cross-pollination process, an intermediary is needed. This intermediary aims to carry pollen from one flower to another. You can see the intermediary in cross-pollination in insects, such as butterflies, wasps, hummingbirds, to the wind.

These nectar-eating animals really need flowers as a source of food because flowers contain nectar. When these animals look for food in one flower and another, some of the pollen will stick to the pistil and that’s when cross-pollination occurs.

The thing that needs to be underlined in cross-pollination is that not all flowers are liked by insects. Generally, these insects only like the striking color of the flowers and the smell is very strong. However, it is different with butterfly insects. As long as the flowers still contain honey, the butterflies really like the flowers.

Meanwhile, assisted pollination or using wind intermediaries usually occurs in flower plants that do not have crowns and flower petals, such as weeds.

Conclusion

Flowers can be said as plants that need animals, wind, and humans to pollinate. Flowers that are not pollinated will not be able to reproduce. Therefore, if we want to care for and grow flowers as ornamental plants, we must often pay attention to this pollination process.

After discussing the meaning of flowers and the parts of flowers and their functions. Are you interested in planting and caring for flowers as ornamental plants? For more details on how this pollination process occurs, you can read books that discuss the ins and outs of flowers.