Flowering plants make seeds inside fruits. The flower is where it starts. (Young learners met this in Flowers, Fruits and Seeds.)
Key idea
The stamens make pollen. Pollination carries pollen to the pistil, often from another flower, by animals or wind. Then seeds form at the base of the pistil, and that part grows into the fruit around them.
- Petals: color and scent that draw in pollinators.
- Sepals: small leaf-like parts that protected the bud.
- Stamens: make pollen.
- Pistil: catches pollen at its tip; seeds form at its base.
Why it works
Flowers that need animals spend energy on bright petals, scent and nectar, the "pay" for the visit; the animal picks up pollen on one flower and leaves it on the next. Wind-pollinated flowers, like grasses, skip all that: they are small and plain and make huge amounts of light pollen.
Worked examples
Worked example: Is it a fruit?
In botany, is a cucumber a fruit?
- A cucumber grows from the base of a flower's pistil.
- It holds seeds.
Answer: Yes.
Worked example: Is it a fruit?
Is a carrot a fruit?
- A carrot is a root.
- It does not grow from a flower or hold seeds.
Answer: No.
Common mistake
Thinking a fruit is anything sweet and a vegetable anything not sweet. In botany, any part that develops from a flower and holds seeds is a fruit: tomatoes, peppers, pumpkins and bean pods too. "Vegetable" is a kitchen word, not a botany word.