antherThe tip of a stamen, where pollen is made. When the pollen is ready, the anther forms openings and releases it.
filamentThe thin stalk that holds an anther up. The word comes from the Latin filum, a thread.
nectarSugar water made by a flower as a reward for bees. Nectar is made in glands called nectaries. It is the sugar that bees turn into honey.
ovaryThe swollen base of a pistil, where seeds form. After the flower is fertilized, the ovary ripens into the fruit.
ovuleA tiny body in the ovary that holds an egg cell. Once the egg cell is fertilized, the ovule becomes a seed.
petalOne of the colored flaps that make a flower showy. Petals are modified leaves. Their bright colors and unusual shapes attract pollinators, and all the petals of one flower together are called the corolla.
pistilThe female organ of a flower, ringed by the stamens. A pistil typically has a swollen base, a long middle section and a tip that receives pollen. A flower can have one pistil or several.
Show all 36 terms (29 more)
Parts of a flower, continued
pollenGrains like dust that hold the male cells of a plant. Each grain has a hard coat that protects it on its journey. The grains of each kind of plant have their own shape, size and surface markings.
sepalA small, usually green leaf just under the petals. Sepals protect the flower while it is in bud. Together they are called the calyx.
stamenThe organ of a flower that produces its pollen. It is a thin stalk with a pollen sac on top. Stamen is the Latin word for thread, and all the stamens of one flower together are called the androecium.
stigmaThe pollen-catching top end of a pistil. It is often sticky, and hairs, flaps and ridges help it trap pollen. A grain that lands there starts to grow.
styleThe slim neck that lifts a stigma above the ovary. Pollen tubes grow down through the style.
Pollination and seeds 12
cross-pollinationPollen passing from one plant to a different plant. Crossing two parents mixes their genes, which makes the next generation more varied.
embryoThe tiny new plant waiting inside a seed. It starts to grow while the seed is still on the parent plant.
fertilizationThe joining of a male cell with a female cell. The fertilized egg cell is called a zygote. It grows into the embryo of the seed.
fruitWhat a flower's ovary turns into as its seeds ripen. To a botanist, bean pods, tomatoes, nuts and corn kernels are all fruits.
germinationThe moment a seed wakes up and puts out a root. It begins when the seed takes up water and its coat splits. Then a root pushes out, and a green shoot too.
pollen tubeThe thread a pollen grain grows down to an ovule. It has to drill its way through the style to the bottom of the ovary. When it reaches an ovule, it bursts and delivers two male cells.
pollinationThe journey of pollen that lets a plant set seed. Pollen has to travel from an anther to a stigma. Wind, water and animals can all carry it, and about 80 percent of flowering plants rely on living things to do it.
pollinatorA bee, bird or other visitor that moves pollen about. Bees, butterflies, moths, flies, beetles, wasps, ants, birds and bats are all pollinators. Insects are the main pollinators of most plants.
seedA ripened ovule, ready to start a new plant. Inside are a young plant and a store of food, wrapped in a protective coat called the testa.
seed dispersalThe scattering of a plant's seeds far and wide. Wind carries light seeds and water carries seeds that float. Other seeds are swallowed by animals with the fruit, or catch in fur and feathers and fall off somewhere new.
self-pollinationPollen reaching a stigma of the very same plant. Few plants do it with no help from wind or insects. Peanuts are among them.
wind pollinationPollen spread by moving air, not by animals. Flowers that rely on wind can be small and plain, without petals, scent or nectar, and they make enormous numbers of pollen grains. Grasses and oaks are pollinated this way.
Kinds of flowering plants 12
annualA plant that sprouts, seeds and dies within a year. It goes from seed to seed in one season and then dies. About 6 percent of all kinds of plant are annuals.
biennialA plant that needs two years to flower and set seed. In its first year it grows leaves, stems and roots, usually in a low rosette. Parsley is a common biennial.
botanyThe study of how plants are built, grow and live. The word comes from the Ancient Greek botane, which meant pasture, herbs, grass or fodder.
bractA special leaf that grows just beneath a flower. The showy parts of a poinsettia are bracts, not petals: large, colorful leaves around much smaller flowers.
budA young flower still wrapped up tight. A bud can also hold a new shoot, and it may rest for some time before it grows. On many woody plants of cold climates, modified leaves called scales cover the buds.
bulbAn underground food store made of thick leaf layers. A bulb is a short stem wrapped in fleshy leaves, which feed the plant while it rests. Tulips, daffodils and onions grow from bulbs.
flower headMany tiny flowers packed so they look like one. A daisy or a sunflower is really a head of small flowers called florets, sometimes hundreds of them.
flowering plantA plant that makes flowers, then seeds inside fruit. Botanists call it an angiosperm, from Greek words for container and seed. About 300,000 kinds are known, far more than in any other group of land plants.
fragranceThe scent that a flower gives off. A flower's scent can be a blend of several hundred different chemicals. It attracts pollinators and puts off animals that would eat the plant.
nectar guideA marking on a petal that points the way to nectar. Guides can be lines, spots or blotches. Some show up only in ultraviolet light.
perennialA plant that goes on living past its second year. Trees and shrubs are perennials too, though the word is often kept for plants that make little or no wood. An estimated 94 percent of plant species are perennials.
wildflowerA flowering plant that nobody sowed. The word can mean the whole plant, even when it is not in bloom.
How this list was compiled: Term list chosen for this site on 2026-10-12. Each meaning is written in our own words and was checked that day against the article on the term in the English Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/), whose text is under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license: Flower, Petal, Sepal, Stamen, Gynoecium, Stigma (botany), Ovary (botany), Ovule, Pollen, Nectar, Pollination, Pollinator, Self-pollination, Allogamy, Anemophily, Pollen tube, Seed, Fruit, Germination, Seed dispersal, Flowering plant, Annual plant, Biennial plant, Perennial, Bulb, Bud, Wildflower, Bract, Asteraceae, Pseudanthium, Nectar guide, Floral scent, Botany and Rafflesia arnoldii. The parts of a flower, pollination, the pollen tube, fertilisation, fruit, germination and the ways seeds travel were checked a second time against BBC Bitesize (https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zgwb3j6, Flowers and pollination; https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zj7wywx, Plant reproduction; https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/z64t6g8, Fruit and seeds; https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/z2666g8, How do plants grow from a seed?; https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/z28dpbk, How do plants spread their seeds?); pollinators and wind pollination against the Forest Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (https://www.fs.usda.gov/wildflowers/pollinators/animals/index.shtml, Animal Pollinators, and https://www.fs.usda.gov/wildflowers/pollinators/wind.shtml, Wind and Water Pollination). The fact after each meaning is from the same pages. Licence: own work
How it works
This flower vocabulary worksheet lists petal, sepal, stamen, anther, filament, pistil, stigma, style, ovary, ovule, pollen and nectar on the left and their meanings, in another order, on the right. The key prints as the last page.
Read the full guide
Pollination and seeds
Set opens on Parts of a flower. The second set follows the pollen: pollination, pollinator, self-pollination, cross-pollination, wind pollination, fertilization, pollen tube, seed, fruit, embryo, germination and seed dispersal.
Kinds of flowering plants
The third set has flowering plant, annual, biennial, perennial, bulb, bud, wildflower, bract, flower head, nectar guide, fragrance and botany.
Calyx, corolla, carpel and receptacle are on the photosynthesis word search. Roses, tulips and the other flowers by name are on the flower word search.
Questions and answers
What is a complete flower?
A flower with all four kinds of parts, set in rings: sepals on the outside, then petals, then stamens, and the pistil or pistils in the center. The rings grow around the tip of a short stalk called the receptacle.
What is the difference between pollination and fertilization?
Pollination is pollen landing on a stigma. Fertilization comes afterward: the pollen grain grows a tube down to an ovule, and a male cell from the pollen joins the egg cell inside. Only then can a seed form.
What is the largest flower in the world?
The largest single flower is that of Rafflesia arnoldii, a plant of the rainforests of Sumatra and Borneo. It grows to about 1 meter (3 feet) across, can weigh 11 kilograms (24 pounds) and smells like rotting meat.