page_title: Stamen
section_title: Variation in morphology
hierarchical_section_title: Stamen / Variation in morphology
context_page_description: The stamen is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium.
context_section_description: Depending on the species of plant, some or all of the stamens in a flower may be attached to the petals or to the floral axis. They also may be free-standing or fused to one another in many different ways, including fusion of some but not all stamens. The filaments may be fused and the anthers free, or the filaments free and the anthers fused. Rather than there being two locules, one locule of a stamen may fail to develop, or alternatively the two locules may merge late in development to give a single locule. Extreme cases of stamen fusion occur in some species of Cyclanthera in the family Cucurbitaceae and in section Cyclanthera of genus Phyllanthus (family Euphorbiaceae) where the stamens form a ring around the gynoecium, with a single locule.
caption: Cross section of a Lilium stamen, with four locules surrounded by the tapetum
exif: {}