The swollen basal part of the carpel in angiosperms, which contains the ovules. The ovary is hollow and may contain one or many ovules in its locule, each attached by a funiculus. When the carpels are partially or totally united a compound ovary is formed, which may be either unilocular or multilocular depending on whether or not the fused carpel walls break down. Depending on its position in the flower an ovary may be described as inferior, when the other floral organs are inserted above it, or superior when the other floral organs are inserted below (see epigyny , perigyny , hypogyny ). The ovary wall is usually thick and serves to protect the developing ovules. After fertilization the ovary wall forms the * pericarp of the fruit. |
