pollination

[ pol-uh-ney-shuhn ]

noun

, Botany.

1. the transfer of pollen from the anther to the stigma.

pollination

/ pŏl′ə-nā′shən /

1. The process by which plant pollen is transferred from the male reproductive organs to the female reproductive organs to form seeds. In flowering plants, pollen is transferred from the anther to the stigma, often by the wind or by insects. In cone-bearing plants, male cones release pollen that is usually borne by the wind to the ovules of female cones.

pollination

1. The carrying of pollen grains (the male sex cells in plants) to the female sex cells for fertilization . Pollination can occur between plants when pollen is carried by the wind or by insects such as the honeybee ( see cross-fertilization ), or within the same plant, in which case it is called self-fertilization.

Other Words From

• postpol·li·nation adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of pollination¹

First recorded in 1870–75; pollinate + -ion

A Closer Look

When a pollen grain lands on or is carried to the receptive tissue of a pistil known as the stigma, the flower has been pollinated. But this is only the first step in a complicated process that, if successful, leads to fertilization. The pollen grain contains two cells—a generative cell and a tube cell. The generative nucleus divides to form two sperm nuclei. The tube cell grows down into the pistil until it reaches one of the ovules contained in the ovary. The two sperm travel down the tube and enter the ovule. There, one sperm nucleus unites with the egg. The other sperm nucleus combines with the polar nuclei that exist in the ovule, completing the process known as double fertilization. These fertilized nuclei then develop into the endocarp, the tissue that feeds the embryo. The ovule itself develops into a seed that is contained in the flower's ovary (which ripens into a fruit). In gymnosperms, the ovule is exposed (that is, not contained in an ovary), and the pollen produced by the male reproductive structures lands directly on the ovule in the female reproductive structures. Fertilization in conifers can be slow in comparison to flowering plants—the pollen nuclei of pines, for example, take as long as 15 months to reach the ovule after landing on the female cone. And there are variations: In the ginkgo, the ovules fall off the tree and pollination occurs on the ground.

Example Sentences

For instance, if the life cycle of a particular plant changes due to warmer temperatures, such as the time of year when it blooms, this can cause some native bees to miss their short pollination window.

From Ozy

What’s more, bats are a vital part of natural ecosystems and play important roles in insect pest consumption, plant pollination and seed dispersal, according to Bat Conservation International.

From Washington Post

Yet success of the Oxitec mosquitoes in slamming the current pests should not cause some disastrous shortage of food or pollination for natives, Yee says.

From Science News

That may have interfered with the pollination of the cotton’s flowers, preventing the plant from reproducing.

From Science News

He’d even managed to prepare 76 hives for pollination the year before.

From Popular-Science

Bats are crucial to the ecosystem, performing extremely valuable jobs like pollination and insect control.

From The Daily Beast

Do you want to see more cross-pollination between Spidey and the other characters in the Marvel universe, like The Avengers?

From The Daily Beast

What are your experiences, from the practical publishing side, of your diversity of book types and cross-pollination of genres?

From The Daily Beast

The Agriculture Department   estimates that insect-pollination directly contributes $20 billion to the U.S. economy annually.

From The Daily Beast

Almond farms in California are especially reliant on bee pollination.

From The Daily Beast

In a few forms that have a very disagreeable odor, pollination is effected by night flying insects.

From Project Gutenberg

Every fruit and nut grower should know the simple theory of pollination.

From Project Gutenberg

He describes in the Notulae his observations on the ovules and pollination of various Coniferae and Gnetaceae.

From Project Gutenberg

Careful study of some fall flower fitted for insect pollination with an insect as pollinating agent.

From Project Gutenberg

To make sure of cross pollination nature has in some cases placed the stamens and pistils in different flowers on the same plant.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• breeding
• implantation
• procreation
• propagation