50 Parts of the Flower

You need to have some knowledge of flower parts in order to identify some plants.

When examining a flower you should work from the outside to the inside. 

There are often four layers or parts:

• Sepals-They cover the bud and protect the flower.  Often green but may be coloured.

• Petals-They are often large and colourful to attract pollinators.

• Stamens-Male sex organs of flowers. They are made up of anthers (pollen bearing) and filaments (hold up the anther).

• Pistils-Female sex organs of flowers. They consist of the stigma (becomes sticky to receive pollen), the style(raises the stigma up), and the ovary (contains the eggs/ovules that later form seeds).

• Receptacle-Where the sepals, petals, stamens and pistil are all connected, at the tip of the flowering stem.

The number, size and colour of all these parts is important for identification.