What is Pollination?

Have you ever wondered why bees

are attracted to flowers? Flowers look
beautiful and are fragrant, but there is
a reason behind this – flowers
actually help plants to reproduce.
Flowering plants have seeds, carry
the genetic information of the parents
and develop into a new plant.
Explore pollination notes provided
here to learn about the process and
types of pollination.
 Pollination is a method where
pollen grains are picked from an
anther, which is the male part of a
flower and transferred to the
flower’s female part called the
stigma. To make the pollination
work successfully, the pollen
grains must be transferred from
the same species of flower.
Process of Pollination

The process of pollination begins

when the pollen grains from the
respective flowers lands on the
stigma and form a pollen tube with
the style length, which connects both
the stigma and ovary. After the
completion of the pollen tube, the
pollen grain starts transmitting sperm
cells from the grain to the ovary.

Later the process of fertilization in

plants will take place when the
sperm cells will reach the ovary and
egg cells. The seed is then released
from the parent plant and making it
able to grow into a plant and continue
the reproductive cycle with the use of
the pollination method.
Types of Pollination
All plants having flowers completely
rely on pollination method for
reproduction. There are 2 types of
pollination –


 Self Pollination
 Cross-Pollination
 Self Pollination
It is referred to as the primary type of
pollination as it includes a single
flower. Self-pollination occurs when
pollen grains fall directly from anther
into the stigma of the flower. This
process is quite simple and fast,
which leads to a reduction in genetic
diversity as the sperm and egg cells
of the flower share some genetic
information.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Self-
pollination

o
 Self- pollination ensures that
recessive characters are
eliminated.
 The wastage of the pollen
grain is very less compared
to cross-pollination
 In the process of self-
pollination, the purity of the
race is maintained, as there
is no diversity in the genes
 In self- pollination, there is
no involvement of external
factors like wind, water, and
other pollinating agents.
 Self-pollination ensures that
even a smaller quantity of
produced pollen grains from
plants have a good success
rate in pollination.
Disadvantages
The major disadvantage of Self-
pollination is there is no mixing up of
genes. Due to which:


 The vigour and vitality of the

race are reduced
 The immunity to diseases is
reduced in the resultant
offsprings.

Cross-Pollination
It refers to a complex type of
pollination that allows the transfer of
pollen grains from the anther of the
flower into the stigma of another
flower. This method leads to an
increase in genetic diversity as
different flowers will share and
combine their genetic information to
create unique offspring.
Agents for Pollination
As the pollen is not capable of
locomotion, pollination involves some
agents for transfer
of pollen grains especially in case of
cross pollination.
Abiotic Agents Biotic Agents
Anemophily
Hydrophily
Entomophily
Ornithophily
Cheiropteriphily
Malacophily
ABIOTIC AGENTS

Anemophily (Pollination by air/ wind)

Adaptation
• Flowers- inconspicuous, usually not
brightly coloured or scented
• Petals are either small and green or
absent
• Male flowers are more numerous than
female
• Anther are versatile so that they swing
freely by air currents
• Pollen grains are smooth walled,
relatively light, small and dry so they can
be easily blown away
by wind.
• In grasses, pollen grains are relatively
heavy and hence are not suitable for
transport by wind.
To overcome this problem, the male
flowers are borne in the upper part of the
inflorescence
and the female in the lower part.
• Examples; Most cereals and palms,
Member of Salicaceae (Poplar, willow),
Betulaceae (Alder,
hazel, birch), Fagaceae (Oak, beech),
Ulmaceae (Elm), Urticaceae (Urtica) etc.
Hydrophily (Pollination by water)

Hydrophilous flower are small and

inconspicuous like anemophilous
Hypo-hydrophily
• Pollination takes place completely
under
water.
• More common
• Pollination of flower below water level
and is found in submerged plants like
Najas, Ceratophyllum and Zostera
• Aerenchyma present in anther- float
Epi-hydrophily
• Pollination of flower at the surface of
water
• Example - Vallisneria
• Whole male flower break and float on
the
surface.
• Female flower are raised to the surface
by
a long spiral stalk.

BIOTIC AGENTS

Most important agent for pollination

• Entomophily: pollination by Insects
• Ornithophily: pollination by birds
• Chiropteriphily: pollination by bats
• Malacophily: pollination by slug and
snail

Entomophily (Pollination by insects)

• Most frequent in Angiosperms.
• Small amount of pollen grains.
• Pollens are sticky with a rough surface
so they may easily stick to insect
limbs.
• Special relationship between flowers
and insects (Coevolved during
evolution)
• Insects visit flowers to secure food in
the from of pollen sap and nectar, to
deposit their eggs and for shelter etc.

Insect pollinated flowers are made

attractive to insects in many ways
Conspicuous Flowers: Large and brightly
colored
• Aggregation of small flowers forming
inflorescences as capitula.
• Petals: Most common
• Sepals in Mussaenda
• Bracts in Bougainvillea
• Spathe of the inflorescence in Musa
• Insects see only UV wavelengths
• Bee – blue colour
• Butterflies – Red
• Flies – brown and purple
Scent

• In some species scent is more specific

then colour.
• Flies seem to be attracted by the
nauseous odour produce by certain
flowers like Rafflesia.
• Certain flower emit a strong scent
during night and are found to be
pollinated by night flying
moths. For Example – Nyctanthes,
Cestrum and Ampelopsis
Nectar

Nectar glands are situated in different

positions of flowers secreting as sugary
fluid called
nectar.
Nectar is the most valuable thing for
which insects visit flowers. Bees collect
nectar and
elaborate it into commercial honey.
Nectar glands are located on the
thalamus, on the outside of sepals, at the
bases of sepals,
petals, carpels and even in the septa
within ovaries.
Nectar is often concealed within corolla
tube or spur so that insects have to do
much
searching for this and thereby get
thoroughly dusted with pollens.
Edible sap
Some flowers do not have nectaries but
secrete an edible sap. For example-
Orchis,
Hyacinthus, Anagallis, Verbascum and
Erythraea
They secrete juice and sticky substances
which cause pollens to stick to the body
of insect.
Edible pollen
• Some flower produce numerous pollen.
• They are eaten by insects and some
pollens are stick to the body for
pollination.
• Examples: Clematis, Anemone and
Salix
Special mechanisms
Bi-fid stigmas of Bignonia close the two
flaps on being touched by insects. If not
pollinated, they open again
Pistil of Centaurea of Asteraceae bends
and exposes the stigma on touched by
insects.

Lever mechanism in Salvia of Labiatae

(Sage Flower)

• Salvia has bilabiate corolla with two

epipetalous stamens.
The stamen and pistil remains hidden
under the upper lip.
• The short epipetalous filament of each
stamen is connected
to the distractile connective which is long
and lever like, its
two unequal arms separating the two
anther lobes.
• The upper lobe of the anther is fertile
and lower is sterile.
• When bee enter in flower for nectar at
the end of the corolla tube. They push
against the united lower anther lobes
thereby bringing down the fertile anther
lobes which dust
the bee’s back with pollens.
• When this pollen containing bee visited
another flower
where pistil is matured, the stigmas
protrude out of the
upper lips so that bee pollinating them

Trap Mechanism in Aristolochia

• This possess special traps for Diptera
flies.
• Flower of Aristolochia clematitis is
protogynous and having odour smell
• When flies enter in the young upright
flower, the flies crawl down the corolla
tube pushing the downward pointed hairs
but they cannot come out until
these hairs wither away.
• When the anthers mature, pollens
bursting out and smeared the flies.
• After anthesis flower bending down and
the flies come out with pollens.
• They can enter into another flower and
pollinate its stigma

Relationship between Ficus spp. and

Fig wasp

• Flower of Ficus plants of moraceae are

enclosed within the hollow flask shaped
hypanthodium inflorescences and open
through a small terminal pore.
• Three types of flowers- male, female
and gall (Sterile female flower).
• The male flower are located on the top
near opening pore while lower down are
the
long-styled female flowers and the short-
styled gall flowers.
• Figs are pollinated by the gall wasp
(Blastophaga) which crawl into the
receptacle and
lays eggs inside the ovules of the gall
flowers. The eggs develop larvae which
feed on the
ovules and form galls.
• When larvae develop into mature
wasps, they came out from the fig.
During this process
they brush against the male flowers near
the opening pore carrying away pollens
on their
bodies.
• These pollen-laden wasps then enter
into the fresh figs where they pollinate
the long
styled female flowers.

Ornithophily (Pollination by birds)

• Not many in number. Pollen grains are

attached on beaks/ mouth
• Small birds like humming birds and
honey thrushes feed on the nectar
of flowers like Bignonia capreolata and
pollinate them
• Large flowers of Strelitzia (Musaceae)
are pollinated by honey bird.
• Silk cotton, Erythrina and few other
trees are visited by birds and
these birds may play some role in
pollination.
• Not many in number. Pollen grains are
attached on beaks/ mouth
• Small birds like humming birds and
honey thrushes feed on the nectar
of flowers like Bignonia capreolata and
pollinate them
• Large flowers of Strelitzia (Musaceae)
are pollinated by honey bird.
• Silk cotton, Erythrina and few other
trees are visited by birds and these birds
may play some role in pollination.