pollination
Sign in to savethumb|upright=1.25|Diagram illustrating the process of pollination thumb|upright=1.25|Female carpenter bee with pollen collected from a [[night-blooming cereus]]Pollination is the transfer of pollen from an anther of a plant to the stigma of a plant, later enabling fertilisation and the production of seeds. Pollinating agents can be animals such as insects, for example bees, beetles or butterflies; birds, and bats; water; wind; and even plants themselves. Pollinating animals travel from plant to plant carrying pollen on their bodies in a vital interaction that allows the transfer of genetic ma
AI overview
Pollination is the transfer of pollen from one part of a plant (the anther) to another part (the stigma), which allows plants to be fertilized and produce seeds. This process happens through various agents including insects like bees and butterflies, birds, bats, wind, and water, making it a vital interaction for plant reproduction.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Article
22 sectionsContents
- Process of pollination
- Methods
- Biotic pollination
- Abiotic pollination
- By wind
- By water
- By rain
- Switching methods
- {{anchor|Mechanics}}Mechanism
- Coevolution
- In agriculture
- Improving pollination in areas with suboptimal bee densities
- Environmental impacts
- Examples of affected pollinators
- Food security and pollinator decline
- Plant–pollinator networks
- Economics of commercial honeybee pollination
- See also
- References
- Notes
- Further reading
- External links
thumb|upright=1.25|Diagram illustrating the process of pollination thumb|upright=1.25|Female carpenter bee with pollen collected from a [[night-blooming cereus]]Pollination is the transfer of pollen from an anther of a plant to the stigma of a plant, later enabling fertilisation and the production of seeds. Pollinating agents can be animals such as insects, for example bees, beetles or butterflies; birds, and bats; water; wind; and even plants themselves. Pollinating animals travel from plant to plant carrying pollen on their bodies in a vital interaction that allows the transfer of genetic material critical to the reproductive system of most flowering plants. Self-pollination occurs within a closed flower. Pollination often occurs within a species. When pollination occurs between species, it can produce hybrid offspring in nature and in plant breeding work.
In angiosperms, after the pollen grain (gametophyte) has landed on the stigma, it germinates and develops a pollen tube which grows down the style until it reaches an ovary. Its two gametes travel down the tube to where the gametophyte(s) containing the female gametes are held within the carpel. After entering an ovule through the micropyle, one male nucleus fuses with the polar bodies to produce the endosperm tissues, while the other fuses with the egg cell to produce the embryo. Hence the term: "double fertilisation". This process would result in the production of a seed, made of both nutritious tissues and embryo.