Flowering Plant Morphology
Androecium
The androecium is the flower's male whorl — its set of stamens, each a filament topped by a pollen-making anther.
A typical anther is bilobed, and each lobe holds two pollen-sacs (four in all), where pollen grains form.
Stamens aren't always separate. They can fuse in patterns worth knowing: monadelphous (one bundle), diadelphous (two bundles, as in pea), or polyadelphous; and they may attach onto petals (epipetalous).
Where students slip up
Students assume stamens are always free. Fusion is common and often tested — pea is diadelphous (9 fused + 1 free), Citrus is polyadelphous.
Where this connects
Those fusion patterns are not trivia, they are how botanists sort plant families at a glance. Two bundles of stamens, and you are almost certainly looking at a member of the pea family.
Quick check
Each lobe of a typical bilobed anther contains how many pollen-sacs?
- A1
- B2
- C4
- D6