Scientists Say: Pollination

Pollination (noun, “pah-lih-NAY-shun”)

Pollination is a step in a plant’s life cycle that allows it to make seeds. It is the transfer of pollen from the male parts of a plant to the female parts. Some plants supply their own pollen. Others require pollen from another plant of the same species.

Consider a flower. The male parts usually look like fluffy-tipped stalks. These are called anthers. Their job is to make pollen. The female part of a flower is called the pistil. It’s often shaped like a little bowling pin. The pistil has a sticky tip that helps incoming pollen cling to it. Different plants rely on different strategies — such as wind, water or animals — to get pollen to their pistils.

Some plants, especially flowering ones, rely on living things to help transfer pollen. Living things that play a role in pollen transfer are called pollinators. They include bats, birds and many insects — such as bees, moths and butterflies.

Other plants mainly rely on wind for pollination. Corn, pine trees and most grasses are wind-pollinated. About 2 percent of plants rely on water for pollination. A group of aquatic plants called eelgrass (Vallisneria) is an example.

Almost 90 percent of wild flowering plants depend on pollinators to some extent. Yet, many pollinator species are declining. Experts estimate that more than 40 percent of bee species, for instance, may be threatened with extinction. Climate change, pesticide overuse and habitat loss threaten many of these species.

In a sentence

Japanese dogbane (Vincetoxicum nakaianum) uses the scent of wounded ants to attract flies to its flowers for pollination.

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