Flowers

Stop and smell the “Flowers” episode — it’s sweet.

Flowers are an important part of many plants. Plants use flowers to make other plants – to reproduce. Flowers have special parts, called stamens and pistils. When pollen from the stamen finds its way down through the pistil, the flower is pollinated, and seeds start to grow. The seeds eventually find their way to the ground, the seeds sprout, and more plants are born.

Plants have all different styles of flowers. Some flowers have patterns on them that guide bees and other insects to the pollen. Wheat flowers are long and stringy, so when the wind blows, pollen can float easily from stamen to pistil. Some flowers even smell like rotting meat to attract flies. The flies land, pick up pollen on their legs, and dust some of it onto the flowers’ pistils. Although flowers have different shapes, colors, and smells, all flowers make seeds to keep the plant population growing.

“Bee” Bill’s best bud and watch the “Flowers” episode.

The Big Idea

• Some plants use flowers to reproduce.
• Flowers make seeds.
• Flowers come in many different shapes and sizes, but they all do the same thing.

Did You Know That?

• There are more than 250,000 different species of flowers?
• Saffron, a cooking spice, is made from dried crocus flower stamens and is the most expensive spice in the world?
• Orchids have the smallest seeds – 1,250,000 seeds weigh only 1 gram?

Books of Science!

“Eyewitness Explorers: Flowers” by David Burnic. Published by Dorling Kindersley, 1992.

“Discovering Flowering Plants” by Jennifer Coldrey. Published by The Bookwright Press, 1987.