pistilo

The pistil, or pistilo in some languages, is the female reproductive organ of flowering plants, forming the gynoecium. It may be composed of a single carpel or two or more carpels that may be fused or separate. A single flower may have one pistil or several concurrent pistils; when multiple carpels are fused, it is syncarpous; when they remain separate, apocarpous.

Structure: The pistil typically includes stigma, style, and ovary. The stigma is the pollen-receptive surface; the style is a conduit through which pollen tubes grow toward the ovary; the ovary contains ovules, each containing a female gametophyte. Pollination and fertilization occur when pollen reaches an ovule.

Development and fruit: After fertilization, the ovary develops into fruit, enclosing the seeds that derive from fertilized ovules. Flowers can be classified by the position of the ovary relative to other floral parts as superior or inferior.

Terminology and notes: In botanical terminology, the term gynoecium refers to the entire collective set of pistils. The word pistilo is used in several languages; in English, pistil is the standard term for the female reproductive organ of a flower.