We have looked at plants as a whole, then the individual parts (seeds, roots, stems, and leaves) to explore their world.

Today, we are delving into flowers, the sexual parts of the plants. The function of flowers is reproduction. Therefore, in many plants the flowers are beautiful, elaborate, scented and may have patterns only insects can see to attract pollinators.

As these pollinators are drawn to the scents, colors, and / or the patterns, they are rewarded with nectar and pollen, which are rich in sugars and proteins. Collecting these rewards covers them with pollen carried from flower to flower, allowing fertilization to take place.

Many plants have complete or perfect flowers. Called monoecious, these flowers produce both male and female parts. The male parts of the flower are included in the stamen, containing the anthers (containing pollen) and filaments that hold the anthers upright.

The female parts of the flower are called the carpel, containing the stigma, the style and the ovary. The stigma is the sticky top of the carpel that collects pollen. The style is the tubelike structure that connects the stigma to the ovary. Ovules in the ovary are ready to be fertilized by pollen to make the seeds of future plants.

The pollen of the stamen collects on the sticky stigma where double fertilization takes place. The first is the pollen makes a tube that moves down the style to the ovary, carrying pollen that fertilizes the ovules in the ovary, producing the seeds. These ova mature in the ovary, protecting the seeds for future generations.

Other plants are either male or female (dioecious, incomplete or imperfect), so both plants must be present to allow for pollination to take place. A rule of thumb is having three of the same species can help with fertilization, as there may be both sexes in the three. However, this is not a hard and fast rule.

Around the stamens and carpels, plants have designed elaborate ways of attracting pollinators. Plants have used elaborate corollas (the flower part as a whole) as they invest a lot of energy into the next generation.

Colored petals, shaped flat, look like an invitation to a fuzzy bumblebee to come into the blossom and get the goodies, as she bathes in pollen. This pollen is rich in vitamins, minerals, trace elements, enzymes, amino acids, proteins, lipids and antioxidants.

Flowers are unique in that the ways they attract these insects and birds are a wonder of nature. Also, pollen has unique shapes and sizes to allow for each plant to only be fertilized by its own unique shaped pollen, thus ensuring species purity. Plants also bloom at different times, thus cutting down on competition for nectar and pollen resources.

With the more than 500 native bees, wasps and flies in Ohio, as well as birds, beetles and other species of pollinators, we are rich indeed in the diversity we have for maintaining plant vigor. As long as each of us does our part to raise pollinator awareness, and put our awareness into action by planting and maintaining these pollinator oases, we can ensure a

future for Ohio’s vast ecosystems.

Hughes is an Ohio State University Extension Master Gardener Volunteer in Mahoning County and a frequent contributor to Valley Grows.