Ovary (botany)

In the flowering plants, an ovary is a part of the female reproductive organ of the flower or gynoecium. Specifically, it is the part of the pistil which holds the ovule(s) and is located above or below or at the point of connection with the base of the petals and sepals. The pistil may be made up of one carpel or of several fused carpels (e.g. tricarpel), and therefore the ovary can contain part of one carpel or parts of several fused carpels. Above the ovary is the style and the stigma, which is where the pollen lands and germinates to grow down through the style to the ovary, and, for each individual pollen grain, to fertilize one individual ovule. Some wind pollinated flowers have much reduced and modified ovaries.

Fruits

A fruit is the ripened ovary or ovaries—together with seeds—from one or more flowers. The fruits of a plant are responsible for dispersing the seeds that contain the embryo and protecting the seeds as well. In many species, the fruit incorporates some surrounding tissues, or is dispersed with some non-fruit tissues.