Flowers & Fruits Overview

These flashcards capture key vocabulary related to flowers and fruits, focusing on their anatomy, function, and reproductive strategies.

Petals

Brightly colored or patterned structures that attract pollinators.

Sepals

Leaf-like structures that protect flower buds.

Stamens

The male reproductive part of the flower, consisting of the anther (hold pollen) and filament (stalk)

Carpels

The female reproductive part of the flower, consisting of a stigma (capture pollen), style (pollen travels down), and ovary.

Complete flower

A flower that has all four major organs: petals, sepals, stamens, and carpels.

Incomplete flower

A flower missing one or more of the four major organs.

Inflorescence

Clusters of flowers grouped together.

Herogamy

A strategy that spatially separates stamens and carpels to reduce self-pollination.

Dichogamy

A strategy that temporally separates stamens and carpels to promote genetic diversity.

Endozoochory

Animal eat - pass seed through gut 

Epizoochory

Seeds hitchhike to the fur or feathers of animals.

Pollination vector

The agent that facilitates the transfer of pollen from one flower to another.

Seed dispersal vector

The method or agent by which seeds are spread away from the parent plant.

Life Cycle for Flowering Plants

• Ovule (female) + Pollen (male) Gametes (flower)

• Zygote (fruit)

• Seed (fruit)

• Seedling

• Adult Plant

Fruits - Why do they move? (3 reasons)

• reach new habitats

• escape predation and disease

• climate change, gotta be ready