Flowers are the reproductive structures of flowering plants that mediate the union of male sperm and female ovum to produce seeds. They attract pollinators like insects, bats, and birds through traits like scent, color, and nectar guides to facilitate the transfer of pollen between flowers. A flower's form, including the arrangement of stamens and pistils, ensures pollen grains are transferred to the bodies of pollinators. Flowers are heterosporangiate, producing pollen and ovules as male and female spores in different organs within specialized floral structures.

1. Types of flowers

2. A flower , also known as a bloom or blossom , is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Magnoliophyta , also called angiosperms). The biological function of a flower is to mediate the union of male sperm with female ovum in order to produce seeds. The process begins with pollination, is followed by fertilization, leading to the formation and dispersal of the seeds.

3. The grouping of flowers on a plant are called the inflorescence . Each flower has a specific design which best encourages the transfer of its pollen Cleistogamous flowers are self pollinated, after which, they may or may not open. Entomophilous flowers attract and use insects, bats, birds or other animals to transfer pollen from one flower to the next.

4. Flowers commonly have glands called nectaries on their various parts that attract these animals. Some flowers have patterns, called nectar guides, that show pollinators where to look for nectar Flowers also attract pollinators by scent and color. Still other flowers use mimicry to attract pollinators. Some species of orchids, for example, produce flowers resembling female bees in color, shape, and scent.

5. Flowers are also specialized in shape and have an arrangement of the stamens that ensures that pollen grains are transferred to the bodies of the pollinator when it lands in search of its attractant (such as nectar, pollen, or a mate) Anemophilous flowers use the wind to move pollen from one flower to the next, examples include the grasses, Birch trees, Ragweed and Maples

6. Morphology Flowering plants are heterosporangiate , producing two types of reproductive spores . The pollen (male spores) and ovules (female spores) are produced in different organs , but the typical flower is a bisporangiate strobilus in that it contains both organs.

7. A flower is regarded as a modified stem with shortened internodes and bearing, at its nodes , structures that may be highly modified leaves . [1] In essence, a flower structure forms on a modified shoot or axis with an apical meristem that does not grow continuously (growth is determinate ).

9. Flowers may be attached to the plant in a few ways. If the flower has no stem but forms in the axil of a leaf, it is called sessile. When one flower is produced, the stem holding the flower is called a peduncle . If the peduncle ends with groups of flowers, each stem that holds a flower is called a pedicel .

10. The flowering stem forms a terminal end which is called the torus or receptacle. The parts of a flower are arranged in whorls on the torus.

11. The four main parts or whorls (starting from the base of the flower or lowest node and working upwards) are as follow 1. Calyx : the outer whorl of sepals ; typically these are green, but are petal-like in some species. 2. Corolla : the whorl of petals , which are usually thin, soft and colored to attract insects that help the process of pollination .

12. Androecium (from Greek andros oikia : man's house): one or two whorls of stamens , each a filament topped by an anther where pollen is produced. Pollen contains the male gametes . Gynoecium (from Greek gynaikos oikia : woman's house): one or more pistils . The female reproductive organ is the carpel : this contains an ovary with ovules (which contain female gametes).