pistillen

Pistillen are the female reproductive organs of flowering plants. In many languages, including Dutch, pistillen is the plural form of pistil, which is the organ that receives pollen and facilitates fertilization. A pistil may consist of a single carpel or several carpels that are fused together. The basic structural parts of a pistil are the stigma, the style, and the ovary. The stigma is the receptive surface where pollen grains land; the style is a conduit that leads pollen to the ovary, where ovules reside. In simple flowers a single pistil forms the central structure; in more complex flowers there may be multiple pistils or a compound pistil formed by several fused carpels.

Function and reproduction: After pollination, pollen grains germinate on the stigma and grow a pollen tube down through the style to reach the ovary. Sperm cells then fertilize the ovules inside the ovary, resulting in seed formation. The ovary often develops into a fruit, enclosing the seeds, and the ovules become the seeds themselves.

Variation and classification: Pistils vary in number and arrangement. A flower with one pistil is simple, while a flower with several pistils can be apocarpous (distinct, unfused pistils) or syncarpous (fused into a single pistil with multiple locules). Pistillate flowers, those bearing pistils, may be contrasted with staminate flowers that bear stamens.

Significance: Pistillen are central to angiosperm reproduction and are key in plant taxonomy and breeding, where morphology of the pistil and its parts informs species identification and cross-compatibility studies.