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

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Etymology

Origin of pollinium

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

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pollinium pollinia

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

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

Darwin demonstrated that in Orchis and other flowers the pedicel of the pollinium, after its removal from the anther, undergoes a curving movement.

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

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

From My Studio Neighbors by William Hamilton Gibson

Catasetum, pollinia of, adhering to bees' backs,  305;sensitiveness of flowers of,  307.

From Charles Darwin: His Life in an Autobiographical Chapter, and in a Selected Series of His Published Letters by Charles Darwin

Referring to Crüger's letters from Trinidad, he wrote:—"Happy man, he has actually seen crowds of bees flying round Catasetum, with the pollinia sticking to their backs!"

From Charles Darwin: His Life in an Autobiographical Chapter, and in a Selected Series of His Published Letters by Charles Darwin

Pollen, a pair of pollinia of a Milkweed, Asclepias, attached by stalks to a gland; moderately magnified.

From The Elements of Botany For Beginners and For Schools by Asa Gray

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