Editing Staminode (section)

{{short description|Modified or abortive stamen in flowering plants}}
{{more citations needed|date=September 2024}}
In [[botany]], a '''staminode''' is an often rudimentary, sterile or abortive [[stamen]], which means that it does not produce [[pollen]].<ref name= "BotGloss">Jackson, Benjamin, Daydon; ''A Glossary of Botanic Terms with their Derivation and Accent''; Published by Gerald Duckworth & Co. London, 4th ed 1928</ref>{{page number needed|date=September 2024}}  Staminodes are frequently inconspicuous and stamen-like, usually occurring at the inner whorl of the flower, but are also sometimes long enough to protrude from the corolla.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}

[[Image:Staminode 1509.JPG|thumb|right|225px|The arrow points to the hairy staminode of a Grinnell's penstemon (''[[Penstemon grinnellii]]'') flower]]

Sometimes, the staminodes are modified to produce [[nectar]], as in the witch-hazel ''([[Hamamelis]])''.<ref>jin lu mei shu. Hamamelis Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 124. 1753. Flora of China 9: 32. 2003</ref>

Staminodes can be a critical characteristic for differentiating between species, for  instance in the orchid genus ''[[Paphiopedilum]]'', and among the [[penstemon]]s.

In the case of [[Canna (plant)|canna]]s, the petals are inconsequential and the staminodes are refined into eye-catching petal-like replacements.

A spectacular example of staminode is given by ''[[Couroupita guianensis]]'', a [[tropical tree]] growing in South America also known as the cannonball tree.