Flower
the part of a plant which produces seed. Ordinarily a small branch, called a flower stalk, supports the flower. Reduced leaves or bracts are usually present, but they are not properly parts of the flower. In the case of a sunflower they form a leafy sort of mat. Bracts from the cup of the acorn, the husk of an ear of corn, the chaff of wheat, the bur of the chestnut, and the cone of the fir tree. They form the leafy involucre of many plants. Jack-in-the-pulpit stands in a large green leafy bract, and the calla lily stands in a white one.
The parts of a complete flower are:
1. A calyx of two to many sepals.
2. A corolla of one to many petals.
3. Stamens, one to many--filament, anther, pollen.
4. Pistils, one to many--ovary, style, stigma.
Sometimes the corolla is absent or wanting. Sometimes both corolla and calyx, as in the elm, are wanting. Sometimes the stamens are in one flower and the pistils in another on the same plant as in the case of corn, and sometimes the pistillate flowers are on one plant and the staminate on another, as in the case of the cottonwood. A complete flower has a calyx, corolla, stamens, and pistils. All these parts grow from the end of the flower stalk which is appropriately called the receptacle. The business of the stamen is to produce a dust, called pollen; the business of the pistil is to produce seed. It is the business of the corolla and calyx to shelter the stamens and pistils and show helpful, needful insects where the essential parts of the flower are.
See Fertilization; Floriculture; Botany