Reproduction: securing the future

Flowers and fruits are sophisticated structures vital for reproduction, variation and dispersal of species. This chapter first compares vegetative and sexual reproduction, and then describes the structures of cones, flowers, seeds and fruits. Next, the compositions of floral diagrams and floral formulae are described. The diversity of flower shapes and forms is discussed in terms of co‐evolution with pollinators. The diversity of fruit structures is related to seed dispersal. If an apple is cut in half, the core, comprising the seeds, each with a brown testa, contained within about five horny carpels, is clearly visible. It is this core that is the true fruit, whereas the surrounding receptacle, with the remains of the flower emerging through the end opposite the stalk, is the false fruit. It functions in the same way as a fleshy true fruit, however, being attractive to animals and birds and thereby aiding seed dispersal.