Lily flower stamens and carpel. Macrophotograph of the male (stamen) and female (carpel) reproductive parts of a hybrid lily (Lilium sp.), named Casa Blanca. The carpel (from bottom right corner to top centre) consists of a sticky tip (pink, stigma) that receives the pollen, a tubular stalk (style), and an ovary (not seen) that contains the female sex cells. Each stamen is made up of a supporting filament and a pollen sac (anther, brown). The anthers have ripened and split (dehisced) to reveal pollen (brown grains). Pollen is the plant's male sex cell that is carried from flower to flower by pollinating insects, which feed on the flower's nectar.