For some reason student was having difficulty
seeing the parts of a flower
mainly the female and male parts
this is part of the challenge of online instruction
whereby something relatively simple
becomes complicated
whereby a lab exercise that is fun and shared
becomes an exercise in isolation, clicking and wondering
anyhow
flowers are still blooming everywhere
so do a walkabout, make some new friends
I went around and took pictures of flowers to show you
was going to label them all, but that would take all the fun and challenge away now wouldn’t it?!
take a good look, keep an eye out for the male stamens
and the female pistil with the ovary at the base
males can be few to numerous, with a bit of fuzz look to them cause of the pollen, you are looking for a long oval with a slit more or less
females are in the center
the tip is sometimes a little club, or divided into a fork, or a cross, or partitioned further
also note that the timing is sometimes staggered
that is to say, the males may be ripe and mature, while the female is hardly developed
in another flower, the males may have already faded and dried, along with the petals, while the females are just starting
we will start with a few pictures labelled
then the rest is up to you. good luck finding the sex parts on flowers:
The following flowers
I skipped em
cause the parts are easy to see in person with a razor blade and a hand lens
not so easy for me to show you online
The rose family is tricky
cause theres sometimes a whole lotta pistils all cluttered together
plus the way the breeders hybridize em
the parts can be a mess to discern
heres a couple of rose family flowers:
Once in a while you run into one of these around town
a princess flower
We will end this entry
with a puff of plant sperm pollen
aaaahhhhcccchhhhooooooooooooo!