self-pollination

[ self-pol-uh-ney-shuhn, self- ]

nounBotany.
  1. the transfer of pollen from the anther to the stigma of the same flower, another flower on the same plant, or the flower of a plant of the same clone.

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Origin of self-pollination

1
First recorded in 1875–80

Words Nearby self-pollination

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use self-pollination in a sentence

  • The floral mechanism is both simple and effective, favouring cross-pollination, but ensuring self-pollination should that fail.

  • Pollination in most grasses is brought about by wind, though in a few cases self-pollination occurs.

    A Handbook of Some South Indian Grasses | Rai Bahadur K. Ranga Achariyar
  • He may then, as he pushes down after nectar, leave some pollen upon the pistil, thus assisting in self-pollination.

    A Civic Biology | George William Hunter
  • First the anthers must be carefully removed from the bud of the flower so as to eliminate all possibility of self-pollination.

    A Civic Biology | George William Hunter
  • Just as in some orchids and cleistogamic flowers self-pollination regularly occurs, so it may also occur in other cases.

    Darwin and Modern Science | A.C. Seward and Others

British Dictionary definitions for self-pollination

self-pollination

noun
  1. the transfer of pollen from the anthers to the stigma of the same flower or of another flower on the same plant: Compare cross-pollination

Derived forms of self-pollination

  • self-pollinated, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for self-pollination

self-pollination

[ sĕlf′pŏl′ə-nāshən ]


  1. The transfer of pollen from a male reproductive structure (an anther or male cone) to a female reproductive structure (a stigma or female cone) of the same plant or of the same flower. Self-pollination tends to decrease the genetic diversity (increase the number of homozygous individuals) in a population, and is much less common than cross-fertilization. Many species of plants have evolved mechanisms to promote cross-pollination and avoid self-pollination, though certain plants, such as the pea, regularly self-pollinate. Compare cross-pollination.

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