Broccoli is a good source of folate. You may not know but the broccoli florets that we eat are actually flower buds (unopened flowers)! Check out the photos. The first one looks mostly like the broccoli you eat but a few of the flower buds have opened. The second photo shows the flower stalks that have expanded and grown tall and the flowers are all open. The third photo shows the next stage of the plant’s life cycle. What structure is shown in the third photo?
A) stamen
B) seeds
C) fruits
D) stigma
E) sepals A B C E
The correct answer and explanation is:
The correct answer is B) seeds.
Explanation:
Broccoli, like many other flowering plants, has a distinct life cycle. The part of the plant that we typically eat is the flower buds, which are tightly packed together and appear as small clusters on the stalk. These flower buds have not yet opened, and that’s the stage that is harvested and consumed.
In the first photo, the broccoli looks just like what we commonly find in the store. A few of the buds have opened, but they haven’t reached full bloom yet. When these buds open fully, the plant produces small yellow flowers. After the flowers are pollinated, the plant enters the next stage of its life cycle.
In the second photo, you would notice the stalks growing tall, and the flowers are fully open. After flowering, the plant starts developing fruits, which contain seeds. These seeds are the result of the fertilization process between pollen from one flower and the stigma of another.
The third photo, as described, shows a more advanced stage of the plant’s life cycle. At this point, the flowers have been pollinated and have begun forming seeds. Seeds are produced inside the fruit after fertilization occurs, and these seeds will eventually be dispersed, allowing the plant to reproduce. So, what you are seeing in the third photo are the developing seeds inside the fruit, which is a key structure in the reproduction of the plant.
The other options, such as stamen (the male reproductive part of the flower), sepals (the protective leaf-like structures around the flower buds), fruits, and stigma (the part of the flower that receives pollen), don’t directly match the description of what happens after pollination, when seeds begin to form in the fruit. Therefore, the correct answer is seeds.