In the
flowering plants, an ovary is a part of the female reproductive organ of the flower or
gynoecium. Specifically, it is the part of the
carpel which holds the
ovule(s) and is located above or below or at the point of connection with the base of the
petals and
sepals. In this picture of a
zucchini the petals and sepals are above the ovary and such a flower is said to have an inferior ovary; also referred to as epigynous. Above the ovary is the
style and the
stigma, which is where the
pollen lands and germinates to grow down through the style to the ovary, and, for each individual
pollen grain, to grow into one individual ovule. Some wind pollinated flowers have much reduced and modified ovaries. The carpel together with all the female components including ovules, placental tissue, style and stigma are called
gynoecium. The carpel is considered to be a modified leaf. A pea shell is a good example of a carpel and shows the genetic and morphological relationship to a leaf.
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