Sexual reproduction in plants

The flower is the reproductive organ of a plant. Let’s get familiar with the parts of a flower. Here is a dissection of a typical flower. The flower contains four basic parts: the leaflike sepals, the attractively coloured petals, the stamens and a pistil. The stamen, which is the main part of a plant, consists of the filament and the anther. The anther has pollen grains that contain the male gametes. The female part of a plant is made up of the stigma, the style and the ovary. The ovary has ovules, which contain the female gametes. Let’s know understand how reproduction in plants is brought about. Pollination and fertilization are the two mayor events that bring about reproduction. Pollination is simply the transfer of pollen from the anther to the stigma of the pistil. The stigma receives the pollen grains. Pollen grains can be carried from anthers to the stigma by wind, water or insects. Pollen trapped by the stigma germinates to produce a long tube which travels down the style and enters the ovary. The pollen tube contains the male gamete. The male gamete fuses with the female gamete in the ovule. This process of fusion is called fertilization. The zygote develops into what is commonly called the seed. After the seed has formed the ovule matures to produce fruits. New plants grow from the seeds under suitable conditions. This is the process by which plants propagate themselves.