pistil

American  

[pis-tl] / ˈpɪs tl /

noun

Botany.

1. the ovule-bearing or seed-bearing female organ of a flower, consisting when complete of ovary, style, and stigma.

2. such organs collectively, where there are more than one in a flower.

3. a gynoecium.

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pistil British  

/ ˈpɪstɪl /

noun

1. the female reproductive part of a flower, consisting of one or more separate or fused carpels; gynoecium

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pistil Scientific  

/ pĭs′təl /

1. One of the female reproductive organs of a flower, consisting of a single carpel or of several carpels fused together. A flower may have one pistil or more than one, though some flowers lack pistils and bear only the male reproductive organs known as stamens.

2. See more at carpel flower

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pistil Cultural  

1. The female part of a plant. In flowering plants, it is at the center of the flower. When fertilized with pollen, the pistil develops into fruit.

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Etymology

Origin of pistil

1570–80; earlier pistillum, special use of Latin pistillum pestle

Compare meaning

How does pistil compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• pistil vs. carpel

Explanation

The part of a flower that eventually develops into seeds or fruit is called a pistil. The pistils are at the very center of the blossom, surrounded by petals. A pistil is made up of a flower's female organs — the ovary, the long, stem-like style, and the sticky stigma, which receives pollen. These flower parts play a vital role in reproduction, sticking out so that bees and other pollinating insects can easily brush against them. The transfer of pollen fertilizes the seeds in the ovaries. Pistil gets its name from its stick-like resemblance to a pestle.

Example Sentences

The study described how a plant's floral tubes produce volatile compounds to sterilize their stigma, the part of the pistil that collects pollen, to protect against attack by pathogens.

From Science Daily • Mar. 21, 2024

There were several Blooms; or perhaps we should think of a pistil and its petals.

From The New Yorker • Oct. 16, 2019

Goethe recognized that all the parts of a flower, from pistil to sepal, are modified leaves.

From Nature • Aug. 5, 2019

Botanists sometimes call a single carpel or several fused carpels a pistil.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2018

Suddenly, the world opened up for her like one of her imperial tulips and revealed its evil yellow pistil.

From "Song of Solomon" by Toni Morrison