A mature ovary of a flower that protects dormant seeds and aids in their dispersal.

• A. Ovary
• B. Fruit
• C. Petal
• D. Sepal

Answer: (B)

After fertilization, the ovary develops into a fruit, and its job is to protect the developing seeds and help move them away from the parent plant. The fruit often has a fleshy or tough outer layer that encases the seeds during dormancy, and its structure or features (taste, scent, or mechanical dispersal) aids in spreading seeds, whether by animals eating the fruit or by other dispersal methods. The other parts of a flower don’t carry out this combination of seed protection and dispersal: the ovary is the female reproductive organ before fertilization, petals attract pollinators, and sepals protect the developing bud.