What is the function of flowers?

The flowers are one of the most important parts of a plant, the most visible and which are object of desire and admiration for many. Flowers, apart from being the decorative element of a plant, is food for animals and fragrances are made with them. Fruits play an important role in the reproduction of plants. Here we tell you what the function of flowers is in the natural world.

One of the most important functions of flowers is pollination. The pollen in the flower comes from the stamen and contains the gamete, the male reproductive contribution. Once pollination has occurred, the male pollen is transferred to the female structures called pistils and stigma.

There are plants that have flowers with stigma and pollen so they can pollinate themselves, there are others that only have pistils, or even only stamens. Pollen can pass from flower to flower through insects such as bees, and through the air. Generally, flowers with striking colors and impressive aromas usually depend on insects for pollination, in fact their appearance is to attract them.

Production of seeds and fruits

Once the pollination process has occurred in a flowering plant, the male pollen enters the ovary. When the ovum of the mature female plant turns into a seed. Seeds are essential for the survival of plants as they create new ones and are also necessary for the creation of fruits. The fruits are mature ovaries of plants that cover the seeds.

The so-called simple fruits come from flowers with only one ovary and usually have a round shape with one or more seeds, this is the case of tomatoes that arise from flowers with only one ovary. There are also other fruits called aggregates that come from flowers with more than one ovary, they tend to have a much more complicated shape and a good example would be raspberries.

Plant reproduction

The main function of flowers is to make the reproduction of plants possible. Flowers are a part of the plant that provide beauty and attractiveness because otherwise we would only see green leaves. And it is that beauty that makes the natural environment notice them.

When birds, insects, and bats approach the flower, they look at it and steal the nectar. In this way and without knowing it, they are pollinating the plants, moving the sperm or pollen from the male stamens to the female pistils.

Nectar for insects

Many living things feed on the nectar of flowers. There are many types of insects that feed on nectar such as ants, butterflies, bees and wasps. Since these flowers need external help to be pollinated, there are many plants that have evolved to be even more beautiful and attractive to their pollinating agents.

For example, the bee orchid has developed so much that it looks like a female bee perched on an orchid. Bats that want to eat nectar feed on the flowers of agave, saguaro and cardón. And these plants have evolved to such an extent that they only open their flowers at night.