Amaryllis style and stigmas

Flowers and fruit of the ground orchid, Spathoglottis plicata: its 'inferior' ovary lies below the attachment of other floral parts

Parts of a Ranunculus (buttercup) flower

A large stigma with anthers in the background

The gynoecium of an apple has five carpels

A gynoecium (from Ancient Greek gyne, "woman") is the female reproductive parts of a flower. The male parts are called the androecium. Some flowers have both female and male parts, and some do not.

Another key term is carpel. Carpels are the building blocks of a pistil. The gynoecium may have one pistil or more. A pistil may have one carpel or more than one stuck together ("fused"). Carpels and pistils have three parts: a stigma at the top where the pollen lands; a style and an ovary. In the case of a pistil, the stigma, style, and ovary may be made up of those parts of more than one carpel, fused.