Meaning & use
stamen
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Meaning
nouncountablebiology
The pollen-making part of a flower, made up of a thin stalk with a pollen sac at its tip.
Grammar: Plural is stamens (or, rarely, stamina). A flower usually has several stamens.
Patterns
- the stamen of a flower
Yellow pollen dusted the stamens at the center of the lily.
A bee brushed against the stamen and carried grains to the next flower.
Students pulled off a petal to see the stamen more clearly.
Word forms
| plural | stamens |
|---|
Common combinations
- the stamen and pistil
- The stamen and pistil are the flower's reproductive organs.
- produce pollen
- Each stamen produces pollen at the top of its filament.
- the tip of the stamen
- Pollen collects on the tip of the stamen.
- a flower's stamens
- Count a flower's stamens to help identify the species.
Synonyms and how they differ
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: stamen or stamina?
stamen vs stamina
Stamina means lasting physical or mental energy, not a part of a flower, even though it is the Latin plural of stamen.
Practice
Which part of a flower produces pollen?
Choose one answer.
The stamen holds the anther where pollen is made. The pistil is the female part, and sepals and roots do not make pollen.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “stamen”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.