We often enjoy flowers for their beauty and fragrance. But did you know that the unique colour and shape of each flower has evolved specifically to help them reproduce? Understanding how your plants reproduce will help you plan and create a more productive and vibrant yard.
The two main parts of a flower involved in reproduction are the stamen and pistil. The stamen is the male part of the flower where pollen is produced. The pistil is the female part of the flower that includes the stigma, that receives the pollen, and the ovary that forms into the fruit or seed.
Plant Evolution
Plants have evolved different ways of arranging male and female parts. Here are three terms to know:
- Perfect – Each flower has both male and female parts. This is a very common strategy for many of our native plants such as, serviceberries, roses and dogwoods. Some perfect plants can self-pollinate, while others cannot. Being able to self-pollinate is a useful strategy for early bloomers, like bloodroot, which may not always have many pollinators around to do the work for them.
- Monoecious – Each plant has both male and female flowers. This is a common strategy in some of our local native trees such as oaks, birch and spruce. Many of these trees separate the male and female flowers, often with the female flowers toward the top of the plant and male on the bottom. This will reduce self-pollination and increase genetic diversity. Monoecious plants often use wind to help move their pollen to other nearby trees.
- Dioecious – Male and female flowers are found on separate plants of the same species. For pollination to happen, both male and female plants need to be growing nearby. This strategy tends to be more common in trees and shrubs, including locally native common winterberry, Kentucky coffee-tree and eastern red cedar. Early meadow-rue is a great example of a herbaceous dioecious plant.