The science of anthology is the study of flowers and blooming plants. It focuses mostly on the structure and function of Angiosperms. Flowers are a plant’s reproductive organ. Sepals, petals, stamens, and pistils make up the flower. A full bloom thus has both vegetative and reproductive sections. These serve a crucial part in the reproductive process of plants. Carpels and pistils are the primary units of the gynoecium, the female component of a flower, among all other reproductive elements. Although they are linked, there is a distinction between the carpel and the pistil. Carpels are the gynoecium’s basic units, and they can be free or fused, meaning separate or connate. Similarly, the term pistil is used. In certain cases, these phrases have the same meaning, but not always.
Carpel
The carpel is the flower’s fourth whorl, located in the center. It mostly consists of the female elements of a flower, such as the style, stigma, and ovary. Carpels can also be found in a single bloom. Thus, the carpel is one of the leaf-like, seed-bearing structures that makes up the flower’s innermost whorl. A pollen grain from another flower fertilises an egg within the carpel, resulting in the production of seed within the carpel.
Pistil
Pistil is a word that has a lot of different meanings
The pistil is made up of the fusion or merger of one or more carpels. It is the feminine component of the flower, which is centrally positioned and has a swelling base, the ovary, which contains ovules or prospective seeds, as well as a style or stalk, which emerges from the ovary, and the stigma, which can be of various shapes and is highly sticky.
Pollen grains that are suited for pollination fall or attach to the stigma and germinate by creating pollen tubes. The pollen tubes transport sperm for fertilisation of the ovules in the ovary by extending down through the style.
The pistil is made up of several leaflike structures encased within each other, or of carpels with one or more ovules wrapped within them. The carpel is a seed-bearing modified leaf that can have one, two, or more carpels (compound pistil). If there are two or more carpels in a pistil, they are known as syncarpous, and if the carpels are separated in flower, they are known as apocarpous.
Difference Between Carpel And Pistil
Parameter | Carpel | Pistil |
Part of a flower | It is a flower’s female reproductive structure. | In a flower, it’s the ovule, or seed-bearing female organ. |
Composed Of | It consists of an ovary, a stigma, and a style. | It is made up of a different number of carpels |
Egg Cells | They are the ones who make egg cells. | It doesn’t make any egg cells. |
Functions | It aids in the spreading of seeds. | It is the flower’s female reproductive component. |
Fertilisation | It goes through fertilisation. | It does not need to be fertilised. |
Production of seeds | It is capable of producing seeds. | It is not capable of producing seed. |
Significance | The number of styles aids in the identification of carpels. | The number of ovaries aids in the identification of pistils |
Similarities
1.The female parts of a flower are the carpels and pistils.
2.Both are sometimes made up of style, stigma, and ovaries.
3.Their job is to generate seeds, fertilise them, assist in seed dissemination, and lay eggs.
Conclusion
We conclude that Flowers are the most important and distinguishing feature of angiosperms. The Peduncle, Receptacle, Sepal, Petal, Stamen, Anther, Pistil, Stigma, and Ovary are some of the other elements that make a flower complete.
When there is only one carpel and one pistil in a flower, the terms carpel and pistil are synonymous. Both are essential components of the female reproductive system. Even these have certain common elements that play an important role in floral fertilisation.