purple and pink flower decor

This is an extreme macro of the stigma of a Dianthus flower. The stigma gathers pollen and brings it to the pistil using those tiny clear tentacles. You can see a few yellow pollen balls on the upper stigma, but the really amazing thing is that long amber hair on the right. If you look very closely at the part that overlaps the petal, you can see tiny round cells inside the hair. Dianthus flowers are about an inch across, so it is easy to miss their stigma and anthers. They are one of the “perfect flowers” because they have both “male” and “female” reproductive parts.