Flowers

A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs. Flowers may facilitate outcrossing (fusion of sperm and eggs from different individuals in a population) resulting from cross-pollination or allow selfing (fusion of sperm and egg from the same flower) when self-pollination occurs.

Flower, the characteristic reproductive structure of angiosperms. As popularly used, the term “flower” especially applies when part or all of the reproductive structure is distinctive in colour and form.

In their range of colour, size, form, and anatomical arrangement, flowers present a seemingly endless variety of combinations. They range in size from minute blossoms to giant blooms. In some plants, such as poppy, magnolia, tulip, and petunia, each flower is relatively large and showy and is produced singly, while in other plants, such as aster, snapdragon, and lilac, the individual flowers may be very small and are borne in a distinctive cluster known as an inflorescence. Regardless of their variety, all flowers have a uniform function, the reproduction of the species through the production of seed.