A
gynoecium (from
Ancient Greek gyne, "woman") is the
female reproductive part of a
flower. The male counterpart is called an
androecium. A gynoecium is composed of one or more
pistils. A pistil may consist of a single free
carpel, or be formed from a number of carpels that are fused. The pistil itself is formed from the stigma, style, and ovary.
A plant ovary (much like an animal ovary) is the part of the pistil which contains ovules. The style is generally referred to as stalklike, without ovules located between the ovary (at the bottom of the pistil) and the stigma (located at the top portion of the pistil). In some plant species styles are not found in the pistils. Stigma is the pollen receptor within the pistil at the top of the pistil. Stigmas may be discretely defined structures or they may be within a region referred to as the stigmatic region. [1]
A carpel is the basic unit of the female reproductive organ of a flower, the gynoecium. A flower may have zero, one, or more carpels. Multiple carpels may combine into a single pistil, or into multiple pistils.
The parts of the carpel are
