The stamen

The idea

The stamen is the male part of a flower, made of a filament and an anther, which produces pollen grains containing male gametes.

Grains on a bee

A bee visits a sunflower. Tiny grains from the flower stick to its body.

What do you think these grains are?

• Pollen grains
• Seeds
• Spores

Look at a stamen

Open each tab, from the whole flower to the pollen.

The male part

The stamen has two parts. The grains on the bee were pollen grains, made in the anther. Each pollen grain holds male gametes.

The stamen is the male part of a flower. It is made of a filament and an anther, which produces pollen grains containing male gametes.

Notes

The stamen is the male part: a filament and an anther that makes pollen grains with male gametes.

Check yourself

Which part of a flower is the male part?

A stamen is made of…

What does the anther produce?

The pollen grains contain…

• The pistil. The pistil is the female part.
• The sepal. The sepal is the green covering that protects the bud. It is not the male part.
• The stamen — correct. Yes!
• a filament and an anther — correct. Yes!
• a stigma, a style and an ovary. Those are the three parts of the pistil, the female part.
• a petal and a sepal. Petals and sepals are separate parts of the flower, not parts of the stamen.
• Seeds. Seeds develop from the ovules after fertilisation.
• Pollen grains — correct. Yes!
• Egg cells. Egg cells are inside the ovules in the ovary.
• female gametes. The ovule contains the female gametes, the egg cells.
• a fruit. A fruit forms from the ovary after fertilisation.
• male gametes — correct. Yes!