Question

Mention the function of the carpel.

Answer 1

Hint: The carpel is a constituent of the inner essential whorl of the gynoecium of a flower. It is found in female and bisexual flowers. Sometimes, the word carpel is often used interchangeably with pistil or even with the gynoecium.

Complete answer:
A flower is the reproductive organ of an angiosperm plant. Some flowers are males, some are females and some flowers are bisexual (having both and female reproductive organs). In female and bisexual flowers, the innermost whorl forms the gynoecium.

The gynoecium consists of one or more pistils which in turn consist of one or more carpels. Depending on the number of carpels, the pistil can be called a unicarpellate or multi-carpellate. Carpel is the female reproductive organ in flowers. It can be divided into three parts; the stigma, style and the ovary.

The stigma is a round sticky surface that allows the adhesion of the pollen grains from other plants or flowers of the same species. The style is an elongated tube that provides a path for the passage of male gametes which come in contact with the stigma. The style leads into the ovary which is a round-shaped structure at the bottom of the style. It is the part that contains the ovules or the embryo sac. The embryo sac is the location where the egg cells are present.

Therefore, we can conclude that the function of the carpel is to provide a mode to perform sexual reproduction in flowering plants (angiosperms).

Note: Sometimes, the gynoecium of a flower contains only one pistil. Further, the pistil also contains only one carpel. In such instances, the single carpel is referred to as the carpel, the pistil and also the gynoecium of the flower. Hence, the three words are used interchangeably in such cases.