Flowers, pollination and seeds

1Inside a flower

A flower holds a plant's sex organs. The stamens are male: each anther makes pollen. The carpel is female: the stigma catches pollen, and the ovary holds ovules, each with an egg cell.

stamenanthercarpelstigmaovary

2Pollination

Pollination is the transfer of pollen from an anther to a stigma. Plants can't move, so insects or the wind carry the pollen, often to a flower on another plant.

pollination

3Insect-pollinated flowers

Insect-pollinated flowers have bright petals, a scent and sweet nectar to attract insects. Sticky pollen clings to a visiting bee and rubs off on the next flower's stigma.

petalsnectar

4Wind-pollinated flowers

Grasses are pollinated by the wind. Their flowers are small and green, with no scent or nectar. Dangling anthers shed huge amounts of light pollen, and feathery stigmas catch it.

feathery stigmas

5Fertilisation

A pollen grain on a stigma grows a pollen tube down through the style to an ovule. The male nucleus travels down the tube and joins the egg cell's nucleus: fertilisation.

pollen tubefertilisation

6Seeds and fruit

After fertilisation, each ovule becomes a seed, holding a tiny plant and a food store. The ovary grows into a fruit around the seeds, and the petals wither and fall.

seedfruit

7Spreading the seeds

Seed dispersal spreads seeds away from the parent plant, so the new plants don't compete with it for light, water and space. Seeds travel by wind, animals, water or bursting pods.

seed dispersal