nettle plant
The name "nettle" applies to a wide variety of plants, but current botanical thinking restricts the true nettles to the genus Urtica. This includes the stinging nettle, which has male and female plants that differ from one another in their floral and vegetative properties. Does this Spark an idea?
A Monoecious Flower
Not all the true nettles have male and female flowers. The male and female flowers of Urtica urens (dwarf nettle) occur not only on the same plant, but even in the same flower cluster.
Stinging Nettle
The male and female flowers of Urtica dioica (stinging nettle) live in separate abodes, and these two abodes are called male and female plants. While alike in the form of their leaves and in their habit of growth, they differ from each other in various ways.
The Flower Parts
The flowers of the male plants have four stamens, that is, structures that produce the pollen that fertilizes the eggs of the female flowers. The flowers of the female plant have a simple pistil with a single egg that can produce a single seed.
The Flower Clusters
The female flower cluster offers a richer array of flowers than the male, and they nod downward. The male cluster, a single raceme, sticks upward at an angle.
Vegetative Differences
Though the vegetation of the male and female nettle is similar, a study by Weglarz and Roston revealed certain differences. The male plant was more prolific in the production of foliage, and its rhizomes propagated more shoots than its female counterpart.
Polyphenols
The same study showed a chemical difference between male and female nettles. The female nettle produces fewer polyphenols than the male, but the polyphenols of the latter were simpler in structure than those of the female.
Tags: female flowers, male female, male female, male female flowers, differ from, female flowers Urtica