Abortive flower


An abortive flower is a flower that has a stamen but an under developed, or no pistil. It falls without producing fruit or seeds, due to its inability to. Flowers require both male and female organs to reproduce, and the pistils and ovary serve as female organs, while the stamens are considered male organs.
Illustrative examples include Urginea nagarjunae and Trichilogaster acaciaelongifoliae.

Causes of Flower Abortion

Pollinated flowers and fruits can abort selectively. It could be because of the order of pollination, the number of developing seeds, pollen source, or some combination of these. Flowers and fruits can also abort because of outside causes like insufficient light, unsuitable photo-period, high temperature, nutrient deficiency, ethylene, drought stress.
There is research to suggest that random selective abortions based on the timing of fertilization could increase the genetic quality of seeds. The age of the flower also has an effect on the percentage of abortion. The older the flower, the more likely it is to be aborting the fruit or pollen.