How amazing is it that this flower(Horse Chestnut) will produce this seed (a conker).
And in turn, this seed will produce this seedling, Which will grow into this tree and eventually produce these flowers., and so the cycle of life continues.
The main function of a flower is to produce seeds to ensure the survival of the plant. So today, we’re going to look and see how this happens.
We will divide the flower into 3 parts: the outside (the petals); the inside (the stamens); and the center (the pistil).
On the outside are the Petals which are like bright colored leaves, and their job is to attract insects and animals to the flower.
On the inside are the stamens. This is the male part of the flower and look a bit like short narrow straws. Their job is to produce pollen. Pollen is like fine dust-like grains.
In the very center of the flower, is the Pistil, and this is where all the action happens. It is the female part of the flower and looks like a long tube, narrow at the top and wide at the base. The base contains unfertilised eggs. The Job of the Pistil lis to make seeds.
Insects, for example, Bees, are attracted to a colorful or scented flower. When they land on the flower, some of the pollen sticks to their body. When the bee then visits another flower, some of this pollen comes off the bee and sticks to the second flower. If you follow the arrows, you can see that the pollen then travels down the green tube (the pistil) and fertilizes the egg at the bottom.Once the eggs are fertilized, and the seeds start to develop, the flower has done its job and starts to wither.Finally, the seeds are ready to be sown to produce a new plant . The cycle is complete, and can begin all over again.
