Longitudinal section of female flower of squash showing ovary, ovules, pistil, and petals

In the flowering plants, an ovary is a part of the female reproductive organ of the flower or gynoecium. The flowering plants or angiosperms ( Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta) are the most widespread group A gynoecium (from Ancient Greek gyne, "woman" is the Female reproductive part of a Flower. Specifically, it is the part of the carpel which holds the ovule(s) and is located above or below or at the point of connection with the base of the petals and sepals. A gynoecium (from Ancient Greek gyne, "woman" is the Female reproductive part of a Flower. Ovule literally means "small egg." In Seed plants the ovule is the structure that gives rise to and contains the female reproductive cells A petal (from Ancient Greek petalon "leaf" "thin plate" regarded as a highly modified leaf is one member or part of the corolla A sepal (from Latin separatus "separate" + petalum "petal" is a part of the flower of Angiosperms or flower plants In this picture of a zucchini the petals and sepals are above the ovary and such a flower is said to have an inferior ovary; also referred to as epigynous. Zucchini ( in North American and Australian English) or courgette (/kʊǝrˈʒɛt/ or in New Zealand and British English Above the ovary is the style and the stigma, which is where the pollen lands and germinates to grow down through the style to the ovary, and, for each individual pollen grain, to grow into one individual ovule. Pollen is a fine to coarse powder consisting of microgametophytes ( pollen grains) which produce the male Gametes (sperm cells of Pollen is a fine to coarse powder consisting of microgametophytes ( pollen grains) which produce the male Gametes (sperm cells of Some wind pollinated flowers have much reduced and modified ovaries. The carpel together with all the female components including ovules, placental tissue, style and stigma are called gynoecium. A gynoecium (from Ancient Greek gyne, "woman" is the Female reproductive part of a Flower. The carpel is considered to be a modified leaf. A pea shell is a good example of a carpel and shows the genetic and morphological relationship to a leaf.

Fruits

A fruit is the ripened ovary—together with seeds—of a flowering plant. The term fruit has different meanings dependent on context and the term is not synonymous in Food preparation and Biology. A seed (in some plants referred to as a kernel) is a small embryonic Plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat usually with some stored In many species, the fruit incorporates the ripened ovary and surrounding tissues. The fruits of a plant are responsible for dispersing the seeds that contain the embryo and protecting the seeds as well.

Positions

Ovary insertion: I superior II half-inferior III inferior. a androecium g gynoecium p petals s sepals r receptacle. The insertion point is where a, p, and s converge.

The terminology of the positions of ovaries is determined by the insertion point, where the other floral parts (perianth and androecium) come together and attach to the surface of the ovary. The term perianth has two similar but separate meanings in botany In Flowering plants the perianth is the outer sterile whorls of a Flower (see The stamen ( Plural stamina or stamens, from Latin stamen meaning "thread of the warp " is the male ^[1] If the ovary is situated above the insertion point, it is superior; if below, inferior.

Superior ovary

A superior ovary is an ovary attached to the receptacle above the attachment of other floral parts. A superior ovary is found in types of fleshy fruits such as true berries, drupes, etc. The word berry has two meanings one based on a botanical definition the other on common identification In Botany, a drupe is a Fruit in which an outer fleshy part ( Exocarp, or skin and Mesocarp, or flesh surrounds a shell (the pit A flower with this arrangement is described as hypogynous. An example is Hypericum calycinum. Hypericum calycinum is a prostrate or low-growing Shrub species of the genus Hypericum ( Clusiaceae)

An ovary becomes superior during anthesis (flower formation) when the upper portion of the ovary grows more than the lower part.

Inferior ovary

See also: False berry

An inferior ovary lies below the attachment of other floral parts. An epigynous berry or false berry is an Accessory fruit found in certain Plant species with an inferior ovary, distinguishing it from Pome is a type of fleshy fruit, that may be cited as an example. In botany a pome (after the Latin name for an Apple: pomum) is a type of Fruit produced by Flowering plants in the Subfamily The flower of Fuchsia has an inferior ovary. Fuchsia is a Genus of flowering Plants mostly Shrubs and can grow long shoots which were identified by Charles Plumier in the late-17th Such flowers are termed epigynous.

Half-inferior ovary

A half-inferior ovary (also known as “half-superior”, “subinferior,” or “partially inferior,”) is embedded or surrounded by the receptacle. ^[2] Such flowers are termed perigynous or half-epigynous. In some classifications, half-inferior ovaries are not recognized and are instead grouped with either the superior or inferior ovaries.

More specifically, a half-inferior ovary has nearly equal portions of ovary above and below the insertion point. Other varying degrees of inferiority can be described by other fractions. For instance, a "one-fifth inferior ovary" has approximately one fifth of its length under the insertion point. Likewise, only one quarter portion of a "three-quarters inferior ovary" is above the insertion.

See Also

• Fruit Anatomy

References

1. ^ Soltis et al. A Fruit in Botany refers to a mature ovary. In fleshy fruits the outer often edible layer is the pericarp, which is the tissue that develops (2003). "Evolution of Epigyny". International Journal of Plant Sciences 164: S251–S264. doi:10.1086/376876. A digital object identifier ( DOI) is a permanent identifier given to an Electronic document.  
2. ^ Soltis & Hufford (2002). "Ovary Position Diversity in Saxifragaceae". International Journal of Plant Sciences 163: 277–293. doi:10.1086/324528. A digital object identifier ( DOI) is a permanent identifier given to an Electronic document.