Pollen
['pɒlən] or ['pɑlən]
Definition
(noun.) the fine spores that contain male gametes and that are borne by an anther in a flowering plant.
Typed by Edwina--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) Fine bran or flour.
(n.) The fecundating dustlike cells of the anthers of flowers. See Flower, and Illust. of Filament.
Typed by Leona
Definition
n. the fertilising powder contained in the anthers of flowers: the male or fecundating element in flowers.—v.t. to cover with pollen.—adj. Pollenā′rious consisting of pollen.—v.t. Poll′enise to supply with pollen.—n. Poll′en-tube the tube by which the fecundating element is conveyed to the ovule.—adj. Poll′inar covered with a fine dust like pollen.—v.t. Poll′inate to convey pollen to the stigma of.—n. Pollinā′tion the transferring or supplying of pollen to the stigma of a flower esp. by aid of insects or other external agents.—adj. Pollinif′erous bearing pollen.—n. Pollin′ium an agglutinated mass of pollen grains.—adjs. Polliniv′orous feeding upon pollen; Poll′inose covered with a powdery substance like pollen.
Typed by Laverne
Examples
- At seven he painted the Battle of Waterloo with tiger-lily pollen and black-currant juice, in the absence of water-colours. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- Many exotic plants have pollen utterly worthless, in the same condition as in the most sterile hybrids. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- Nearly all our orchidaceous plants absolutely require the visits of insects to remove their pollen-masses and thus to fertilise them. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- As the wind had set for several days from the female to the male tree, the pollen could not thus have been carried. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- Now, it is scarcely possible for insects to fly from flower to flower, and not to carry pollen from one to the other, to the great good of the plant. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- In other orchids the threads cohere at one end of the pollen-masses; and this forms the first or nascent trace of a caudicle. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- When an insect visits a flower of this kind, it rubs off some of the viscid matter, and thus at the same time drags away some of the pollen-grains. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- Thus, in plants, the office of the pistil is to allow the pollen-tubes to reach the ovules within the ovarium. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- The petals in the imperfect flowers almost always consist of mere rudiments, and the pollen-grains are reduced in diameter. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- Insects in seeking the nectar would get dusted with pollen, and would often transport it from one flower to another. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- As beekeeping developed as an industry, the close relationship to fruit growing and horticulture became apparent, as bees were discovered to be the greatest pollen carrying agents known. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- It has lately been shown that bees, instead of searching for pollen, will gladly use a very different substance, namely, oatmeal. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- When the bees gather pollen and make wax and build cells, each step prepares the way for the next. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- And I will throw in Robert Brown's new thing--'Microscopic Observations on the Pollen of Plants'--if you don't happen to have it already. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
Checker: Monroe