Flower of Stylidium turbinatum, showing the column. Stylidium turbinatum is a Dicotyledonous Plant that belongs to the Genus Stylidium (family Stylidiaceae)

The column, or technically the gynostemium, is a reproductive structure that can be found in several plant families: Aristolochiaceae, Orchidaceae, and Stylidiaceae. The Aristolochiaceae, or the Birthwort family, are a family of Flowering plants with 8 genera and about 400 species belonging to the order Piperales The family Stylidiaceae is a taxon of dicotyledonous Flowering plants It consists of five genera with over 240 species most of which are endemic to

It is derived from the fusion of both male and female parts (stamens and pistil) into a single organ. The stamen ( Plural stamina or stamens, from Latin stamen meaning "thread of the warp " is the male A gynoecium (from Ancient Greek gyne, "woman" is the Female reproductive part of a Flower. This means that the style and stigma of the pistil, with the filaments and one or more anthers, are all united.

Orchidaceae

Longitudinal view of a vanilla flower, showing the column

The stigma sits at the apex of the column in the front, but is pointing downwards after resupination (the rotation by 180 degrees before unfolding of the entire inflorescence).

This stigma has the form of a small bowl, the clinandrium, a viscous surface embedding the (generally) single anther. On top of it all is the anther cap. Sometimes there is a small extension or little beak to the median stigma lobe, called rostellum.

Column wings may project laterally from the stigma. The column foot is formed by the attachment of the lip to the basal protruding part of the column. The labellum (or Lip) is part of an Orchid, Canna or other less known flower that serves to attract Insects that Pollinate the flower One speaks of a mentum (chin) if the lateral sepals are also basally adnate (= attached to the foot of the column). A sepal (from Latin separatus "separate" + petalum "petal" is a part of the flower of Angiosperms or flower plants

The column both releases pollen and also receives it (from another individual) for fertilization. Pollen is a fine to coarse powder consisting of microgametophytes ( pollen grains) which produce the male Gametes (sperm cells of In the Orchidaceae family, unlike almost all other flowering plants, the single male anther at the tip of the column produces pollen that is not free and powdery but held in waxy masses of two, four or six pellets called pollinia. The flowering plants or angiosperms ( Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta) are the most widespread group Pollen is a fine to coarse powder consisting of microgametophytes ( pollen grains) which produce the male Gametes (sperm cells of Pollinium, or plural pollinia, is a coherent mass of Pollen grains The transfer of pollinia from one flower to another, though highly efficient, is often reliant upon one particular species of arthropods and it can be catastrophic for the population if its pollinator disappears from the community. Arthropods are Animals belonging to the Phylum Arthropoda (from Greek ἄρθρον arthron, " Joint "