Editing Plant reproductive morphology (section)

{{Short description|Parts of plant enabling sexual reproduction}}
[[File:Schlumbergera 04 ies.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Close-up of a ''[[Schlumbergera]]'' flower, showing part of the [[gynoecium]] (specifically the [[Stigma (botany)|stigma]] and part of the [[Style (botany)|style]]) and the [[stamen]]s that surround it]]

'''Plant reproductive morphology''' is the study of the physical form and structure (the [[Plant morphology|morphology]]) of those parts of plants directly or indirectly concerned with [[sexual reproduction]].

Among all living organisms, [[flower]]s, which are the reproductive structures of [[flowering plant|angiosperms]], are the most varied physically and show a correspondingly great diversity in methods of reproduction.<ref name="Barrett-2002"/> Plants that are not flowering plants ([[green alga]]e, [[moss]]es, [[Marchantiophyta|liverwort]]s, [[hornwort]]s, [[fern]]s and [[gymnosperm]]s such as [[conifer]]s) also have complex interplays between morphological adaptation and environmental factors in their sexual reproduction. The breeding system, or how the [[sperm]] from one plant fertilizes the [[Egg cell|ovum]] of another, depends on the reproductive morphology, and is the single most important determinant of the genetic structure of nonclonal plant populations. [[Christian Konrad Sprengel]] (1793) studied the reproduction of flowering plants and for the first time it was understood that the [[pollination]] process involved both [[Biotic component|biotic]] and [[abiotic]] interactions. [[Charles Darwin]]'s theories of [[natural selection]] utilized this work to build his [[theory of evolution]], which includes analysis of the [[coevolution]] of flowers and their [[insect]] [[pollinator]]s.