Style and stigma

The style is the stalk-like part of the pistil that connects the ovary to the stigma. A simple style is a single, unbranched style, as in Hibiscus. A bifid style is branched into two, as in the Asteraceae. A gynobasic style arises not from the top of the ovary but from its very base, as in the Lamiaceae (Ocimum) and characteristically in the Boraginaceae. A lateral style arises from the side of the ovary rather than its top or base, as in Mangifera (mango). The stigma, at the tip of the pistil, is the structure that actually receives pollen grains, and is described by its shape: discoid (flat, disk-shaped), capitate (appearing like a head, e.g. Alchemilla), globose (spherical), or plumose (feathery, unbranched or branched, as in Asteraceae and Poaceae). A reduced, ster …