Question

Explain the term staminate flower.

Answer 1

Flowers are the reproductive organs of the plants which consist of different reproductive parts. Flowers are named according to these reproductive parts. A bisexual flower consists of both male and female reproductive organs whereas unisexual flowers have either male or female reproductive organ in them.

Complete answer:
Flowers are the distinctive features of a plant due to their attractive features and colours which are for the purpose of attracting pollinators. A flower that has a female reproductive part that is a pistil is known as a pistillate flower and the flower which has male reproductive part that is stamen is known as staminate. Pistil comprises a stigma which is a sticky surface on which the pollen grains stick, style a long filamentous tube like structure in which the pollen tube germinates and ovary in which ovules are present which develop into seeds after fertilisation. Stamens comprises anthers in which pollen grains are produced.
Sometimes both male and female organs are present in the same flowers then the flower is known as a perfect flower. Along with the reproductive organs some additional structures are also present in the flower for the purpose of attracting pollinators and protection of reproductive organs like petals and sepals. Petals are large showy structures which are found in different colours whereas sepals are greenish structures which are like reduced leaves and are mostly found at the base of the flower as in rose. Perianth is a structure formed by both sepals and petals and it is like a cover to protect the flower.

Additional information:
-A plant is said to be monoecious when it bears unisexual flowers of both the sexes as in corn, oak.
-A plant is said to be dioecious when both sexes are present on different plants like one plant bears only staminate flowers and the other bears only pistillate flowers. Example – cottonwood.
-A plant is said to be polygamous when it has staminate, pistillate and bisexual flowers all present on the same plant.
-Different flowers have different symmetry on the basis of which they are divided into actinomorphic flowers (radially symmetrical) and zygomorphic flowers (bilaterally symmetrical).

Note: Both stamens and pistils are involved in the production of seeds which further germinates and forms a new plant. Stamens have microsporangia which develop into microspores (potential pollen grains) that further go to the pistil and fertilise the ovules present inside the ovary.