Many flowers are beautiful, but they are never just for show.
The flowers of a flowering plant contain the parts that create the seeds and fruit from which new plants will eventually grow. Male and female Just as there are male and female animals, so a flower has male and female parts. Seeds for new plants are made when germ cells from the male and female parts meet. The short stalk in the middle of the flower is called the pistil and is the female part of the flower. Arranged around it are the spindly stalks of the male parts or stamens.