Page 72 - How It Works - Book of Amazing Answers To Curious Questions, 12

AMAZINGANSllE'RS To Cumous QuEsTIONS --------------------

Pistil - the female Sacs inside the anther produce Why don't
Stamen -the male
0 reproductive parts reproductive parts
Pollen sticks to the sticky stigma
while the plant's seeds develop pollen, which is located at the
inside the ovary. The stigma and tip of the stamen.
ovary are connected by the style. woodpecl<ers
get headaches?

How a thick skull keeps it injwy free

oodpeckerswhack force of gravity, without
their heads against suffering concussion, detached
W wood up to 20 times retinas or any other symptoms
a second, at 1,200 times the of head injury. But how?

Holes Skull Brain
Woodpeckers Woodpeckers have a Unlike human brains,
excavate small thicker skull than most which are floating
Petals Sepals rectangular holes other birds. It's made of about in a pool of
To attract pollinators, The green sepals on the sides of tree extremely strong yet cushioning
flowers have brightly protect the flower trunks, prying off spongy compressible cerebrospinal fluid,
coloured petals. when it is in bud. wood to expose bone, to help cushion the woodpecker brains are
tasty beetle larvae blow. The beak and skull tightly enclosed in the
and carpenter ants. are linked by elastic skull with practically no
connective tissue.
cerebrospinal fluid.
How do plants
reproduce?

Plant pollination and beyond

lowering plants propagate by the female parts in order to form
way ofpollination.Justas in seeds. Self-pollination can occur
F human reproduction, there when pollen sticks to the stigma of a
are male and female sex organs. flower of the same plant.
This process, however, is much less Alternatively pollen can be
strenuous than in animal transferred to another plant
intercourse; the male parts ofthe altogether, and this can either be as
flower barely do anything. a result of the wind blowing the
The male parts of the flower, pollen through the air, or by the
which produce pollen, are called pollen getting stuck to industrious
stamens, and each one consists of a insects attracted by the blooms'
stalk, or filament, with what's colourful petals, who then roam
!mown as an anther at the tip. The from flower to flower unknowingly
anther is full oftinysacs in which distributing pollen as they go.
the pollen grains develop and When a male pollen grain lands on
eventually break free. the female stigma of a plant of the
The female reproductive organs same species, the grain develops a
are called pistils, and these consist pollen tube that leads to an ovule Beak Hyoid apparatus Third eyelid
of a sticky stigma at the tip, which within the ovary. The male cells then The strong bones that Within the long tongue Woodpeckers have
the pollen sticks to, and an ovary, travel through the tube into the comprise the is a skeletal structure a thick inner eyelid,
woodpecker's straight called the 'hyoid which acts as a
which is a bulbous structure full of ovule, where it can proceed to bill are strengthened by apparatus'. This is a seatbelt to ensure
ovules where seeds develop at the fertilise the female egg inside. Once a horn-covered beak, collection of small bones the bird's eyeballs
base of the pistil. The stigma and fertilisation has occurred, a seed which hammers into supported by cartilage don't pop out and
the wood and bark of a and muscles, which also prevents
ovary are connected by a stalk forms in the ovary. Meanwhile, the tree at something like fold up like an accordion tearing the retina.
called a style. ovary surrounding the seed becomes 12,000 impacts per and enable the The eye is filled with
day in search of bugs woodpecker to stick its blood to support
Pollen itself is produced by the a fruit, which protects the seed and
and ants. tongue out further. the retina.
male organs and is transferred to helps it develop into a plant itself.
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