• THE MALE STAMENS composed of the following parts:
  • pollen-producing anthers
  • stem-like filament
• THE FEMALE PISTIL composed of the following parts:
  • pollen-receiving stigma
  • neck-like style
  • the ovary
• THE FLORAL ENVELOPE composed of the following parts:
  • calyx with its several sepals
  • corolla with its several petals or corolla lobes

But of course it's not that simple.

Not all flowers have all or even most of the parts mentioned above, and some flowers have items not mentioned. From flower-kind to flower-kind, the parts vary in number, size, position, color and in other ways, but flowers of the same kind are amazingly alike, and that helps us identify them.

You can learn the above parts on our Standard Blossom page.

Always ask yourself how the flower's design encourages pollination. Does it discourage self-pollination in some way?

As you gain experience interpreting the flowers of many different species, in a magical manner you'll begin seeing relationships among plants, what the general trends are in nature, and how experimental and beautiful the world of flowers is.

And that's all there is to the art of flower interpretation. However, if you do a good job, you'll never see and never learn all you want to in your whole life. There's always a new flower someplace which, when you see it for the first time, will just blow your socks off!