Stamen
in botany, the male organ of a flower, called by the old botanists an apex and a chive. Morphologically it is a transformed leaf. a filament, an anther, and pollen. The last two are essential, the first is not. When anther and pollen are wanting, the stamen is called a sterile or abortive. If the stamens are equal in number to the petals then normally they alternate with them.
They always originate from the space between the base of the petals and the base of the ovary, but they may cohere with other organs, whence the terms epigynous, hypogynous, and perigynous. Cohesion among themselves may make them monadelphous, phous, diadelphous, or polyadelphous. They may be on different flowers, or even different plants, from the pistils, whence the terms monecious or diecious.
Other terms used of stamens are exserted, included, declinate, didynamous, and tetradynamous. The stamens taken collectively form the andrœceum or male apparatus of the flower.