Flower Dissection - Reproduction in flowering plants

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For this flower dissection,
we're using a lily

because it's a really large flower
that's got really obvious and very

distinct reproductive parts.

Now the first thing
that we're going to do

is remove this outer layer here.

These are the parts
known as the sepals.

And you can see there,
they are the first thing

that comes out at the top
of the stem of the flower.

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We can see here on
this diagram, there

is the stem, the
receptacle at the top.

And the sepals are sticking out
either side, and they're in green.

The petals are above
them, and they're brightly

colored to attract insects.

Here you can see the sepals are
green on the bud of the flower.

But in the earlier stages
of it starting to bloom,

they are the same
color as the petals.

So in this particular species,
the petals and the sepals

look almost identical.

Now that we've removed
a few sepals and petals,

we can see much more clearly what's
on the inside of this flower.

And you can see on
this one that we've

got both the male and the
female reproductive parts,

which have been produced at once.

At the base of the
petals here, we've

got this sticky sugar-containing
fluid, and this is known as nectar.

And it's there to
attract insects, which

are necessary for pollination.

Let's take a closer look now
at the male reproductive part

of the flower.

This part is known as the stamen.

And the stamen contains the anther,
supported by a stringy thing called

the filament.

The job of the anthers
is to produce pollen.

The anthers produce the
male gametes of the flower.

In the earlier stages of
blooming of the flower,

you can see the pollen starting
to burst out of the anthers.

But once the flower's
more mature, they're

a lot more exposed and readily
released from the anthers.

And you can see these coming
off here as a sort of dust.

We can put this onto
a microscope slide,

and then put it under the lens to
have a little closer look at it.

And you'll be able to see the
individual pollen grains that have

been released from the anthers.

Next, let's have a look at
the female reproductive part

of the flower.

At the bottom here is the ovary.

This is the slightly large,
inflated part, which will

go on to develop into the fruit.

Above that is the style.

And at the top of the
style here is the stigma.

And this is where
the pollen must land.

In the diagram here, you can see the
carpel with the ovary at the bottom

and the style above it
and the stigma on top.

This is the female
part of the flower.

And inside of the
ovary are the ovules.

Here we've got the female gametes.

We can now cut into
the ovary so that we

can get a little bit of
a closer look of what

this looks like on the inside.

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We've cut off the outer layer.

And now we'll cut off
a little section of it

so that we can have a closer look.

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On the inside of
the ovary, we've got

lots and lots and lots of these
absolutely tiny, little ovules.

We really need to see
them under a microscope

to get a good view of them.

So that's the entire
structure of the flower,

with the sepals coming out of
the receptacle at the base,

the petals above them, which are
there to attract insects, which

is why they're brightly colored.

The female system is
known as the carpel, which

contains the ovary at the
bottom with ovules inside of it,

the style above that, and
the stigma at the top.

And the stigma is the place
that receives the pollen.

The male part is known
as the stamen, which

consists of anthers at the top of
it and the filament beneath it,

supporting it.

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