Stigma (botany)
part of a flower. The pollen-receptive surface of a carpel or group of fused carpels, usually sticky; usually a point or small head at the summit of the style where deposited pollen germinates
The stigma (pl.: stigmas or stigmata) is the receptive tip of a carpel, or of several fused carpels, in the gynoecium of a flower.
Description
The stigma, along with the style and ovary (typically called the stigma-style-ovary system) constitute the pistil, which is part of the gynoecium or the receptive female reproductive organ of a plant; in animals, this organ is equivalent to the vagina, cervix, and oviduct.
The stigma itself forms the distal portion of the style, or stylodia, and is composed of stigmatic papillae, the cells of which are receptive to pollen. These may be restricted to the apex of the style or, especially in wind pollinated species, cover a wide surface.
The stigma receives pollen and it is on the stigma that the pollen grain germinates. Often sticky, the stigma is adapted in various ways to catch and trap pollen with various hairs, flaps, or sculpturings. The pollen may be captured from the air (wind-borne pollen, anemophily), from visiting insects or other animals (biotic pollination), or in rare cases from surrounding water (hydrophily). Stigma can vary from long and slender to globe shaped to feathery.
Pollen is typically highly desiccated when it leaves an anther. Stigma have been shown to assist in the rehydration of pollen and in promoting germination of the pollen tube.
“Stigma (botany)” enters the record as part of a flower. The pollen-receptive surface of a carpel or group of fused carpels, usually sticky; usually a point or small head at the summit of the style where deposited pollen germinates. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Stigma, botany and part can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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This entry incorporates text from “Stigma (botany)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.