A flower is the reproductive organ of those plants classified
as angiosperms (flowering plants; Division Magnoliophyta).
The function of a flower is to produce seeds through sexual
reproduction. For the higher plants, seeds are the next
generation, and serve as the primary means by which individuals
of a species are dispersed across the landscape. After
fertilization, a flower develops into a fruit containing
the seed(s). In botany, a flower is regarded as a modified
stem (Eames, 1961) with shortened internodes and bearing,
at its nodes, structures that may be highly modified leaves.
In essence, a flower structure forms on a modified shoot
or axis with an apical meristem that does not grow continuously
(growth is determinate). The stem is called a pedicel,
the end of which is the torus or receptacle. The parts
of a flower are arranged in whorls on the torus.
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