Advantages of Flowers In general, flowers are an evolutionary advantage to plants because they attract animals such as bees, moths, or hummingbirds. These animals—drawn by the color, scent, or even the shape of the flower—carry pollen with them as they leave. Because these animals go directly from flower to flower, they can carry pollen to the next flower they visit. This means of pollination is much more efficient than the wind pollination of most gymnosperms.

Advantages of Fruits After pollination, the ovary develops into a fruit. In Figure 22–19, you can see the progression of development of a blackberry flower into a fruit. The angiosperm fruit is a structure containing one or more matured ovaries. The wall of the fruit helps disperse the seeds inside it, carrying them away from the parent plant.

Consider what happens when an animal eats a fleshy fruit, such as a berry. Seeds from the fruit generally enter the animal's digestive system. By the time these seeds leave the digestive system—ready to sprout—the animal may have traveled many kilometers. By using fruit, flowering plants increase the ranges they inhabit, spreading seeds over hundreds of square kilometers. The fruit—a unique feature of angiosperms—is yet another reason for their success.

In Your Notebook Summarize the function of flowers and fruits in the reproduction of angiosperms.

FIGURE 22–19 From Flower to Fruit Following pollination and fertilization, a blackberry flower's multiple ovaries develop into a cluster of many individual fruits.

Table of Contents