The small bead-like structures inside the ovary of a flower, which develop into seeds, are called:

Ovules are small, rounded structures found inside the ovary of a flower, attached to the inner wall of the ovary by a stalk called the funicle. The point of attachment inside the ovary is called the placenta. The number of ovules in an ovary varies from one (as in wheat, paddy and mango) to many (as in papaya, watermelon and orchids).

Each ovule has the following parts:

• Integuments: one or two protective outer layers, which later form the seed coat.
• Micropyle: a small opening at the tip of the integuments, through which the pollen tube usually enters.
• Nucellus: a mass of tissue inside the integuments.

Embryo sac (female gametophyte): located inside the nucellus. In most flowering plants, it is a seven-celled, eight-nucleate structure containing the egg cell, two synergids, three antipodal cells and a central cell with two polar nuclei.

The ovule is therefore also called the "megasporangium", because it is where the megaspore develops into the female gametophyte.

After pollination and double fertilisation, important changes take place:

• The zygote develops into the embryo.
• The primary endosperm nucleus develops into the endosperm.
• The integuments harden to form the seed coat (testa and tegmen).
• The ovule as a whole becomes the seed.
• The ovary wall becomes the fruit wall (pericarp), and the ovary becomes the fruit.

Fruits that develop from the ovary alone are called true fruits, such as mango and tomato. Fruits that develop from other parts of the flower as well, such as the thalamus, are called false fruits, such as apple, cashew and strawberry.

Fruits that develop without fertilisation, and therefore have no seeds, are called parthenocarpic fruits, such as some varieties of banana, grapes and seedless watermelon.

Why not the other options?

• ✗Pollen grains are produced in the anther and contain the male gametes.
• ✗Anthers are the parts of the stamen that produce pollen.
• ✗Stigmas are the tips of the pistil that receive pollen.