Poor Man's Bouquet
Posted by Lara Kienle on April 18, 2007
Q: It is my understanding that the flowers on the dandelions turn into the seed heads. What causes this?
State: New York
A: You are correct - a portion of each flower, if fertilized, does indeed become a seed. An individual pollen grain from an anther (male part of flower) lands on an individual flower on a Dandelion, sends a pollen tube down the pistil (female part of the flower) to the ovule or "egg" and fertilizes it. Each fertilized ovule then developes into a seed as the flower petals wither and die. Each seed has a little tuft of white fluff on the top that will serve to carry the seed away when ripe. If you've ever picked a Dandelion when it is in seed, you can pull or blow the seeds from the seed head and see each individual seed separate from the original plant. Any flowers that do not get fertilized, do not produce seeds. Flowers are simply reproductive structures that serve to allow sexual reproduction to occur in plants - quite amazing!
Hope this is clear enough. Thanks for asking.
John Wiessinger ( April 19, 2007)