What Part of the Plant Produces Pollen?
Pollen production is a critical part of the plant reproduction process. Pollen is produced in a male flower’s stamen, and it is a powder of grains that produces the sperm seeds of plants. The stamen is the male organ of the flower and contains a small stalk called a filament. The pollen is often spread by the wind or by insects when they land on a flower–a process called pollination. Pollen will often stick to an insect such as a honey bee, which aids in transferring the pollen to a female flower’s pistil. Significance Pollen production is helpful for bees, which rely on pollen as a source of protein. Also, for people with allergies, pollen production and dispersal can manifest itself in the watery eyes and runny noses associated with hay fever. Identification Identifying pollen is difficult without a magnifying glass because of the small size. Pollen is shaped differently depending on the type of plant from which the pollen originates. For example, the pollen produced by Entomophilou
