Botany is the study of plants. Plants are very similar to people in a lot of ways, but they also have some differences that can be hard to wrap your brain around. And, like any science class, botany can get a little overwhelming at times. So, here are a few items to help you grasp some of the big ideas in botany.

Flowers can be unisexual, having only male or female parts, or bisexual, having both types of parts. The male parts of a flower make up the stamens. The entire whorl of stamens in the flower is called the androecium. The sac-like structures at the top of the stamen are the anthers. The anthers house pollen, which contain the male gametophytes that make the sperm.

During the life cycle of a plant, the plant alternates between two forms: the sporophyte generation and the gametophyte generation. So, a complete plant life cycle includes both generations. Characteristics Sporophyte Generation Gametophyte Generation Ploidy (# of sets of chromosomes) Diploid (2 sets of chrom