1872, from older French pollination, noun of action formed 1812 from pollin-, stem of Latin pollen (see pollen). Replaced in Modern French by pollinisation .
The process by which plant pollen is transferred from the male reproductive organs to the female reproductive organs to form seeds. In flowering plants, pollen is transferred from the anther to the stigma, often by the wind or by insects. In cone-bearing plants, male cones release pollen that is usually borne by the wind to the ovules of female cones.
The carrying of pollen grains (the male sex cells in plants) to the female sex cells for fertilization. Pollination can occur between plants when pollen is carried by the wind or by insects such as the honeybee (seecross-fertilization), or within the same plant, in which case it is called self-fertilization.
