From Seed to Seed:
Plant Science for K-8 Educators

Digging Deeper

Flower Gender

You may know that squash plants produce distinct male and female flowers-that is, some squash flowers have only stamens (containing pollen), and some flowers have only a pistil (containing eggs).

Plants with this characteristic are called monoecious (mon-EE-shus). In most cases, bees inadvertently transfer pollen from male to female flowers in their never-ending quest for nectar. They get their nectar and we get our squash flowers pollinated.

But if for some reason the bees aren't doing their job, you might need to do it yourself. Your students can act out the role of pollinators by using a small artist's paintbrush to transfer pollen to the female sticky stigma.

Other plants (like holly) produce their male and female flowers on entirely separate plants. These plants are termed dioecious (die-EE-shus).

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