What Is the Male Part of the Flower?

Plants that reproduce sexually have male and female parts, which are located in the flowers. Several of the male structures, called stamens, surround a female structure called the pistil. The stamens produce sperm cells that fertilize egg cells contained in the base of a pistil, often one that is located in a different plant.

Each stamen consists of a filament and an anther. The filament is a long thin stalk that supports the anther. The anther contains four anther sacs (microsporangia) that produce pollen, the male reproductive cells.

Pollen grains are covered with an outer shell called the exine. They contain germ cells that divide by mitosis to become sperm cells.

In order for fertilization to take place, pollen must travel from the male anther to the stigma, the top of the female pistil. Bees, birds, moths, water, wind and humans can all carry pollen from one flower to another. Scientists think that different colored flowers attract different kinds of pollinators. For example, red flowers may be more likely to attract bees than birds. Some flowers may pollinate themselves.

After a pollen grain lands on a pistil, a tube grows out of the grain and descends down to the ovary at the base of the pistil. A sperm cell from the grain travels down the pollen tube to the ovary, where it fertilizes an egg cell.

A flower may contain both male and female structures or only male or only female. Individual plants may have both male and female flowers or only one or the other. Flowers that have male stamens and a female pistil are called perfect flowers.