Carpel

Introduction

Unlike (most) animals, plants grow new organs after embryogenesis, including new roots, leaves, and flowers. In the flowering plants, the gynoecium develops in the central region of the flower as a carpel or in groups of fused carpels. After fertilization, the gynoecium develops into a fruit that provides protection and nutrition for the developing seeds, and often aids in their dispersal. The gynoecium has several specialized tissues. The tissues of the gynoecium develop from genetic and hormonal interactions along three-major axes. These tissues arise from meristems that produce cells that differentiate into the different tissues that produce the parts of the gynoecium including the pistil, carpels, ovary, and ovules; the carpel margin meristem (arising from the carpel primordium) produces the ovules, ovary septum, and the transmitting track, and plays a role in fusing the apical margins of carpels.