Pollen Facts: Learn Everything About The Pollination Process!

Pollen grains are tiny particles which are detached from the flower to float into the air and spread by wind to pollinate and reproduce plants of same species.

Pollen is vital for sexual reproduction in plants. Species found in the gourd, bellflower families, and mallow families are capable of producing multiple pollen tubes per pollen grain.

Pollen is transported in many ways. Plants have various ways of getting the pollen grains they need. Anemophilous plants rely on gravity and wind. Light-weight pollen grains are produced in large quantities by them. Nearly all gymnosperm and angiosperm plant families and many genera can be identified solely by their pollen grains. When pollen grains of flowering plants reach the stigma of a compatible flower for transporting regenerative cells into the ovule, a tube is formed in the vegetative cell of the grain.

Pollination Process

Pollen provides benefits through an abundance of food. Corn is a crop that requires wind pollination, which means it can bloom or grow vigorously without any help from bees. In crops, tomatoes and peppers are examples of plants that need insects to complete their pollination.

The process of pollination occurs when pollen grains are moved from the anther (the male part) of one single flower to the stigma (the female part) of another flower. Once pollination occurs, these fertilized flowers produce seeds, which allow the plant to reproduce or to form fruit.

Some plants gradually developed the ability to self-pollinate. Self-pollination means that a flower on a plant stem can pollinate on its own or through other flowers on the same independent plant stem.

Around 80% of plant pollination needs the help of other living creatures such as bats, insects, or birds to transfer pollen from one plant to another. This process is known as biotic pollination.

Birds And Pollen

Birds are attracted to flowers with bright colors and other features. When a bird comes and lands on a flower to suck the nectar, sticky pollen gets attached to the feathers and beaks of these birds.

Flowers that are pollinated by birds are mostly wildflowers. These are less important from a food viewpoint. The destruction of wildflowers can affect the birds that pollinate them, while a decrease in bird population badly affects these plants and the overall ecosystem.

Insects And Pollen

Pollinating creatures acquire some form of reward, which is the incentive to get nectar from the plant they visit. Insects such as bees need nectar and pollen for food which are produced by these plants.

Bees take this pollen that is stuck to their legs, and when they shift from flower to flower, a little bit of pollen is left on these flowers. Bees suck up the nectar with their mouth. They take the nectar to their hives and place them into the honeycomb. This nectar is transformed into honey.

Allergies Caused From Pollen

Pollen from plants in the Asteraceae family is a common cause of asthma, dermatitis, and hay fever allergies. Pollen from plants in this family can also lead to allergic skin reactions upon contact. Plants that transfer pollen by releasing it into the air, such as oaks, ragweed, maple trees, elms, and grasses, are most often responsible for activating allergic reactions. These allergic reactions are a result of our immune system trying to fight off the foreign particles entering the body.

Since so much pollen is produced by flowering plants, it would seem that these plants would cause allergic reactions. However, like many blooming plants that transfer pollen by way of insects and not through wind, these flowering plants are not typically the cause of allergic reactions. Nasal allergy to pollen is called pollinosis. Pollen contains everything a multivitamin has, and it reduces your body's reaction to pollen in the air if you are suffering from seasonal allergies.

Did you know pollen from weeds, grass, and trees is a common cause of asthma and hay fever (allergic rhinitis) symptoms? Hay fever symptoms, like watery and itchy eyes, nasal congestion, and runny nose, occur in seasons, depending on the type of pollen that causes your allergy. People with hay fever may develop sinus infections and can have disturbed sleep which leads to extreme tiredness. Allergies are also caused by a variety of common plants like sunflower, oriental lily, prairie hollyhock, morning glory, evening primrose, and castor bean. Allergy symptoms are suffered by millions of Americans due to exposure to grass, tree, and weed pollen. The spread of pollen can be a misery for seasonal allergy sufferers, although it helps fertilize plants. Not everyone has an allergic reaction to pollen and mostly, these allergies last for 7-10 days.

Treatments such as using a nasal spray and antihistamines are available for your symptoms. With the help of antihistamines, you can combat seasonal allergies. Nasal sprays reduce inflammation, making it difficult for allergens to reach the receptors in your nasal tissue that stimulates reactions. One way to escape from pollen allergies is to stay indoors when pollen is in the air. Through testing, an allergist can point out which pollens bring on your symptoms. Allergy medications are preventive. They must be used daily throughout pollen season, even when these symptoms vanish on individual days due to the low count of pollen. An allergist can assist you by ascertaining which medications will work best for your type of allergy. 

FAQs

Q: What is the lifespan of pollen?

A: The lifespan of pollen is likely to be less than two hours.

Q: What is the role of pollen?

A: The role of pollen is to carry reproductive cells of male gametes in a plant to their female counterparts (ovules) in the embryo sac. Thus, sexual reproduction can occur easily in the plant for offspring production.

Q: What is pollen allergy?

A: An allergic condition caused by pollen is called pollen allergy which affects the mucus membranes of the nose and eyes.

Q: What are the three types of pollen?

A: The three types of pollen are grass pollen, tree pollen, and weed pollen.

Q: What time of day is pollen in the highest quantities in the air?

A: Trees and grass allow the release of pollen at sunrise, with more pollen in the late morning and early afternoon. Afterward, pollen count gradually falls.

Q: What do bees do with pollen?

A: Bees require and feed on both pollen and nectar. Pollen provides them with nutrients and protein. Nectar is for energy. Bees transfer pollen from plant to plant enabling pollination required by plants and nature as a whole.