Despite its significance in the reproductive cycle of flowering plants, and its importance in helping to interpret plant evolution, the stamen, and its fertile, pollen bearing part, the anther, have received relatively little scientific attention. To address this shortcoming, the contributors in this volume give an indication of the kinds of studies now being undertaken with a view to stimulating further work on this neglected plant organ. Traditional and current concepts of stamen construction, terminology and function are summarized, and an extensive bibliography gives access to relevant literature. New evidence for the evolution of the anther is drawn from the fossil record and from current studies of its growth and structure, and the dynamics of stamen evolution is detailed for several families.