pollination

American  

[pol-uh-ney-shuhn] / ˌpɒl əˈneɪ ʃən /

noun

Botany.

1. the transfer of pollen from the anther to the stigma.

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pollination Scientific  

/ pŏl′ə-nā′shən /

1. 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.

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pollination Cultural  

1. 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 (see cross-fertilization), or within the same plant, in which case it is called self-fertilization.

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Closer Look

When a pollen grain lands on or is carried to the receptive tissue of a pistil known as the stigma, the flower has been pollinated. But this is only the first step in a complicated process that, if successful, leads to fertilization. The pollen grain contains two cells—a generative cell and a tube cell. The generative nucleus divides to form two sperm nuclei. The tube cell grows down into the pistil until it reaches one of the ovules contained in the ovary. The two sperm travel down the tube and enter the ovule. There, one sperm nucleus unites with the egg. The other sperm nucleus combines with the polar nuclei that exist in the ovule, completing the process known as double fertilization. These fertilized nuclei then develop into the endocarp, the tissue that feeds the embryo. The ovule itself develops into a seed that is contained in the flower's ovary (which ripens into a fruit). In gymnosperms, the ovule is exposed (that is, not contained in an ovary), and the pollen produced by the male reproductive structures lands directly on the ovule in the female reproductive structures. Fertilization in conifers can be slow in comparison to flowering plants—the pollen nuclei of pines, for example, take as long as 15 months to reach the ovule after landing on the female cone. And there are variations: In the ginkgo, the ovules fall off the tree and pollination occurs on the ground.

Other Word Forms

• postpollination
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of pollination

First recorded in 1870–75; pollinate + -ion

Explanation

Use the noun pollination to describe the reproduction of plants, whether it happens with the assistance of insects, other animals, or the wind. Pollination can happen when a bee moves pollen from a plant to another area, helping the plant to reproduce. Plants are fertilized by the transfer of pollen to other parts of the same plant, or to neighboring plants, through pollination. The root word is pollen, used in science writing since 1760 to mean "the fertilizing part of flowers," and earlier to mean "dust or fine flour."

Example Sentences

Amid a global biodiversity crisis, birds -- which play a vital role in pollination, seed dispersal and controlling insect populations -- are one of the fastest declining groups.

From Barron's • May 20, 2026

Janine Griffiths-Lee, a pollination research lead, said that trees provided "sources of pollen and nectar earlier in the season".

From BBC • Apr. 28, 2026

Their experiments revealed that the Japanese red elder depends on Heterhelus beetles for pollination.

From Science Daily • Mar. 12, 2026

Poor pollination and high temperatures negatively affect how much cacao the trees produce, the researchers report in a study published in February.

From BBC • Apr. 10, 2025

Uncontrolled, open pollination would, over time, turn the species into a single, relatively homogeneous entity.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

Related Words

• breeding
• implantation
• procreation
• propagation