pollen

     

Pollen is a fine to coarse power consisting of microgametophytes (pollen grains), which produce the male gametes (sperm cells) of seed plants. The pollen grain with its hard coat protects the sperm cells during the process of their movement between the stamens of the flower to the pistil of the next flower.

Trivia about pollen

  • The most common cause of hay fever in the U.S. is this substance from ragweed
  • Lennart von Post first counted grains of this from plants to reconstruct past vegetation
  • Breezes often transfer these tiny grains from male flower parts to female seed cones
  • These minute grains link the flowers & the bees
  • Generally yellow or orange, it's transferred from flower to flower by wind, birds & insects
  • Palynology seeks knowledge about past plant distribution by studying grains of this
  • Young bees are fed beebread, made from honey & this plant product
  • The anther of a flower usually has 4 sacs that produce this
  • These airborne grains from trees, grass or weeds may produce hay fever attacks
  • In palynology scientists study the past distribution of seed plants by looking at grains of this
  • In flowers, the anther is part of the stamen in which this is produced
  • You're seeing this produced by a lily (ah-choo!)
  • Common dating techniques are carbon-14, counting tree rings & analyzing grains of this
  • Bees feed on both nectar & this granular dust-like substance necessary for germination
  • The male sex cells of flowering plants are carried to the female cells via this dusty stuff
  • Hay fever neither comes from hay nor is a fever but is an allergic reaction to this in the air, maybe from ragweed
  • Bees help create new species when they move this powder from one type of plant to another
  • It's a fertilizing element for ragweed