pollinium

American  

[puh-lin-ee-uhm] / pəˈlɪn i əm /

noun

Botany.

• pollinia
  plural

1. an agglutinated mass or body of pollen grains, characteristic of plants of the orchid and milkweed families.

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pollinium British  

/ pəˈlɪnɪəm /

noun

1. a mass of cohering pollen grains, produced by plants such as orchids and transported as a whole during pollination

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pollinium Scientific  

/ pŏ-lĭn′ē-əm /

• pollinia
  plural

1. A mass or packet of pollen grains specialized for transfer to other flowers as a unit by pollinating insects. Orchids and milkweeds produce pollinia.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• pollinia
  plural

Etymology

Origin of pollinium

1860–65; < New Latin, equivalent to pollin- (stem of pollen ) pollen + -ium -ium

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pollinium pollinia

A pollinium, when highly developed, consists of a mass of pollen-grains, affixed to an elastic foot-stalk or caudicle, and this to a little mass of extremely viscid matter.

From The Origin of Species by means of Natural Selection, 6th Edition by Charles Darwin

At the base of the pedicel is a small viscid disc by which the pollinium is attached to the head or proboscis of one of the insects which visit the flower.

From Darwin and Modern Science by A. C. (Albert Charles) Seward

In the latter position, if the insect visited another flower, the pollinium would exactly hit the sticky stigmatic surface and thus effect fertilisation.

From Darwin and Modern Science by A. C. (Albert Charles) Seward

In this latter case we have a pollinium in its most highly developed and perfect condition.

From The Origin of Species by means of Natural Selection, 6th Edition by Charles Darwin

The seed vessel to be fertilized is very sticky, "but not so viscid as when touched by a pollinium to pull the whole off an insect's head."

From The Relations of Science and Religion The Morse Lecture, 1880 by Henry Calderwood

Indeed, in lineages that have pollinia, the speciation rate was 5.1% higher than in lineages that don’t, Givnish and colleagues report this week in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

From Science Magazine ● Aug. 25, 2015

The hawk-moth removes on its tongue one, but not often both, of the pollinia attached to disks on either side of the entrance to the spur.

From Wild Flowers An Aid to Knowledge of Our Wild Flowers and Their Insect Visitors by Neltje Blanchan

The clinandrum is largely developed in Malaxis, and is of considerable importance in retaining the pollinia, which as soon as the flower opens are quite loose.

From More Letters of Charles Darwin — Volume 2 by Sir Francis Darwin

In either case the change of position in the pollinia would insure the same result.

From My Studio Neighbors by William Hamilton Gibson

Large butterflies like Danais," says Professor Robertson, "hold their wings still in sucking, spending more time on an umbel, but generally carrying pollinia.

From Wild Flowers An Aid to Knowledge of Our Wild Flowers and Their Insect Visitors by Neltje Blanchan