Sexual reproduction in flowering plants

Objective
To explain the advantage and disadvantage of sexual reproduction

Flowering plants reproduce sexually as well as asexually. Sexual reproduction is by means of flowers. Flowers make gametes. Some flowers make both male and female flowers, that is , a large number of flowers are hermaphrodites.

Parts of a flower

 Pedicel flower stalk. Sepals- protect the flower while it is a bud. Normally they are green. Sepals make the calyx. In flowers like Hibiscus an outer whorl of epicalyx is also present. Just inside sepals are petals. Form corolla of the flower. They are often brightly colored. Petals of some flowers have lines running from top to bottom. These lines are called guide-lines, because they guide the insects to the base of the petal. Here, there is a gland called nectary. Nectary makes a sugary liquid called nectar, which insects feed on.

 Inside petals are stamens. These are the male parts of the flower. Each stamen is made up of a long filament, with an anther at the top. The anthers contain pollen grains, which contain the male gamete. The female part of the flower is in the centre. It consists of one or more carpels. A carpel contains an ovary. Inside the ovary are many ovules, which contain the female gametes.

 At the top of the ovary is the style, with a stigma at the tip. The function of stigma is to catch pollen grains. The female parts of different kinds of flower vary. One main difference is the arrangement of the ovules in the ovary.

Advantages
There is variation in the offspring ,so adaptation to the changing environment is likely. Enabling the survival of the species-new varieties can be created which may be resistant to disease. In plants seeds are produced which allow dispersal away from the parent plant ,reducing competition.

Disadvantages
Two parents are needed. Growth of a new plant to maturity from a seed is slow.

Objective
Can explain fertilization in flowering plants.

 In flowering plants, the male gamete is in the pollen grain and female gamete is in the egg cell or ovule. The pollen grain absorbs liquid from the stigma and grows pollen tube. This tube grows down in to the ovary where it enters in to a small opening called micropyle. The nucleus of the pollen grain travels down in to the pollen tube and enters the ovule where it combines with the nucleus of the egg cell. Each ovule needs its own pollen grain and pollen tube to be fertilized. Chemical signals released by the stigma make sure that pollens landing on the stigma is of same species.

Fruit and seed formation

The zygote divides many times and produces a miniature plant called embryo. The sepals and petals wither away and may fall off. The stamens, style and stigma wither away so that only the ovaries remain on flower stalk. The ovary is now called a fruit. The ovary wall develops in to a fruit which may be fleshy or edible. Example-plum or it may become hardened or dry.[green peas] The ovule forms the seed.

Pollination

Objective Can define pollination and the agents of pollination.

Pollination It is the transfer of pollen from the anther to the stem. Types of pollination 1] Self pollination involves the transfer of pollen from the anther to the stigma of the same plant. Small number of pollen grains need to be produced because there is great chance of successful pollination. This increases the chance of fertilization and seed formation but reduces the variation in the offspring. Self pollinated plants can not cope well with adapting to environmental change.

2] Cross pollination involves the transfer of pollen from the anther of a flower to the stigma of a flower on a different plant of the same species. This reduces the chances of fertilization [wind pollinated flower produces large amount of pollen because of wastage involved], but increases variation and the ability to adapt to environmental change.

Agents of Pollination

Parts of flower 1. Petals

Insect pollination

Wind pollination

Usually colored, Small, green or dull large, scented often in color. No scent or with nectaries, nectaries guidelines etc. Stiff, firmly attached and positioned where insects might brush against them. Small amounts of large, sticky grains or covered in spikes to attach to the bodies of insects. Usually flat or lobed, small surface area inside the flower. Anthers are held at the middle and hang loosely on long thin filaments. Light and produced in huge quantities. Has tiny wings to help the transfer by wind. Large & feathery to give a large surface area for the pollen to land on, hanging outside the flower to catch pollen carried by the wind.

2. Anthers

3. Pollen

4. Stigma