Gynoecium facts for kids

The top part of an Amaryllis flower, showing its style and stigmas

Flowers and fruit of the ground orchid, Spathoglottis plicata. Its ovary is below the other flower parts.

Parts of a Ranunculus (buttercup) flower

A large stigma with anthers (male parts) in the background

The gynoecium of an apple has five carpels (sections).

The gynoecium (say: guy-NEE-see-um) is the female part of a flower. It comes from an old Greek word meaning "woman." This is where a flower makes its seeds. The male parts of a flower are called the androecium. Some flowers have both male and female parts, while others only have one or the other.

Inside the gynoecium, you'll find one or more pistils. A pistil is made up of smaller units called carpels. A pistil can have just one carpel, or several carpels joined together.

Each carpel or pistil has three main parts:

• The stigma is at the very top. This is the sticky part where pollen lands.
• The style is a stalk-like part. It connects the stigma to the ovary.
• The ovary is at the bottom. It holds the tiny ovules, which can grow into seeds.

Sometimes, the stigma, style, and ovary of a pistil are made from parts of many carpels that have grown together. The plant's ovary is similar to an animal's ovary because it holds the ovules. The style is usually a thin stalk between the ovary and the stigma. Some plants have pistils without a style. The stigma is the part that receives pollen. Stigmas can be separate or form a special "stigmatic region."

Parts of a Carpel

A carpel is the basic unit of a flower's female reproductive system (the gynoecium). Here are its parts:

• The stigma: This is the top part that receives pollen. It is often sticky to help pollen stick to it.
• The style: This is a stalk that connects the stigma to the ovary. It has a special path that helps the pollen tube grow. This tube carries the male cell to the ovule.
• The ovary: This part holds the female reproductive cells, called ovules.

The Ovule and Seed Production

The ovule is like a tiny egg inside the ovary. When it is ready, it has one or two protective layers around its central part, called the nucellus. There is a small opening at the top called the micropyle. The nucellus is a tissue that surrounds one large cell, called the megaspore. This large cell divides to create the egg cell and other cells needed for reproduction.

A good example of a simple carpel is found in a pea, bean, or Arabidopsis plant. The fruit of these plants grows from a single carpel. It has two rows of ovules lined up along a special edge called the placental margin.

Understanding the Pistil

The term pistil is another way to describe the female parts of a flower. This table helps explain how it's used:

Images for kids

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  Flower of Magnolia × wieseneri showing the many pistils making up the gynoecium in the middle of the flower

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  Hippeastrum flowers showing stamens (male parts), style, and stigma

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  Moss plants with gynoecia, which are groups of archegonia (female parts) at the top of each shoot.

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  The center of a Ranunculus repens (creeping buttercup) showing many separate carpels surrounded by longer stamens

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  A cut-through view of the ovary of Narcissus showing many joined carpels (a compound pistil). The ovules form along the placental line in each section.

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  Pistil of Begonia grandis

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  Longitudinal section of a female flower of squash showing the ovary, ovules, stigma, style, and petals

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  Diagram showing cut-through views of flowers where the ovary is positioned differently: hypogynous (a), perigynous (b), and epigynous (c)

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  Stigma of a Crocus flower.

See also

In Spanish: Gineceo para niños