The key difference between ovary and ovule is that the ovary is a part of the female reproductive structure that develops into a fruit of flowering plants while the ovule is a structure that develops into a seed of seed plants.
The flower is the reproductive structure of flowering plants. Some flowers are perfect while some are imperfect flowers. Perfect flowers contain both the male and female reproductive parts as androecium and gynoecium respectively. Gynoecium has three main components namely stigma, style and ovary. Accordingly, the ovary is the structure that contains ovules. We can find it at the base of the gynoecium. Thus, ovules are the structures that bear female reproductive cells or the egg cells. Ovary surrounds the ovules in flower. One ovary may contain many ovules but, one ovule often contains one egg cell (female gamete). After fertilization, ovary and ovule develop into different structures of a fruit.
CONTENTS
1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Ovary
3. What is Ovule
4. Similarities Between Ovary and Ovule
5. Side by Side Comparison – Ovary vs Ovule in Tabular Form
6. Summary
What is Ovary?
The ovary is one of the three main parts of the female reproductive structure of plants that contain ovules. We can find it at the base of the gynoecium or the pistil attached to the receptacle. Most of the ovaries are flask-shaped while some are round shaped. After the pollination, the pollen tube grows towards the female gametophyte through the ovary wall. Hence, ovary fulfils two main functions in the plants. It contains ovules and also it facilitates the growth of pollen tube towards the female gametophyte. Once the fertilization process is over, the ovary develops into fruit in flowering plants.
Figure 01: Ovary
Based on the arrangement of the ovary with respective to the insertion point of the flower, there are three main types of ovaries. They are the superior ovary, half-inferior ovary, and inferior ovary.
What is an Ovule?
The ovule is the structure that contains female reproductive cell of plants. We can find it within the ovary. One ovary may contain few ovules. But each ovule contains one egg cell. For example, you can notice scores of seeds inside a watermelon while there is only one seed inside the fruit of peach. It means; there are many ovules inside the ovary of watermelon while there is only a single ovule inside the ovary of peach.
Figure 02: Ovules
In flowering plants, the ovule eventually converts into female gametophyte or the embryo sac that contains eight cells including an egg cell during the sexual reproduction. After a successful fertilization process, ovule develops into a seed of the fruit.
What are the Similarities Between Ovary and Ovule?
- Ovary and ovule are two structures that involve with sexual reproduction of plants.
- Also, both structures develop into parts of fruit after fertilization.
- Moreover, both are parts of the maternal plant.
What is the Difference Between Ovary and Ovule?
The ovary is the round base of the pistil that contains the ovules. On the other hand, ovules are the structures that contain female reproductive cells or the female gametes. Therefore, this is the key difference between ovary and ovule.
Based on what they become after fertilization, we can find a difference between ovary and ovule. The ovary turns into a fruit while the ovules become its seeds. The below infographic on difference between ovary and ovule presents the comparison in tabular form.
Summary – Ovary vs Ovule
Ovary and ovule are two components of a flower of plants. The ovary is a part of the pistil that contains the ovules. We can find it at the round base of the pistil. On the other hand, ovule is the structure that contains a female reproductive cell or the egg cell. Therefore, this is the key difference between ovary and ovule. After successful fertilization, ovary develops into a fruit while ovule develops into a seed of the fruit. Thus, this is another difference between ovary and ovule.
Reference:
1.“Ovule.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 22 Nov. 2018. Available here
2.Beck, Kevin. “The Role of Ovaries & Ovules in Flowering Plants.” Sciencing.com, Sciencing, 2 Aug. 2018. Available here
Image Courtesy:
1.”Ovary position”By Ulf Mehlig – Own work, (CC BY-SA 2.5) via Commons Wikimedia
2.”Ovules in flower”By Tameeria (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Commons Wikimedia