Animal Pollination VS Wind Pollination 🌿

TERMINOLOGY TUESDAY 🌿
w/ the Florida Native Plant Society!
More about pollination!
Most flowering plants rely on animals (birds, insects, bats, etc.) to move their heavy pollen grains from the male parts of their flowers to the female parts of another flower. These plants put their energy into producing showy, noticeable flowers to attract the specific pollinators they have evolved to attract. You can usually infer what type of animal pollinates a plant based on the shape, color, and arrangement of their flowers.
The airborne pollen that is so annoying to us each spring does not come from noticeable flowers that are animal-pollinated - their pollen is too heavy to be airborne. It comes from wind-pollinated plants, like oaks and pines, with inconspicuous flowers.
Wind-pollinated plants forgo the effort of producing showy flowers to attract pollinators, instead producing mass amounts of unnoticeable male flowers with copious, lightweight pollen spread by the wind.
Oaks, for instance, are monoecious but have imperfect flowers (male and female flowers are produced separately on the same plant). Their male flowers are called catkins and are much more numerous than the few female flowers, which eventually become acorns if pollinated.
Some plants have even evolved to rely on water to transport their pollen!
Ask any questions you have in the comments!
Next week, we will discuss more aspects of pollination.
Thanks for tuning in! 👋🏻
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[@ReginaBailey-sr3ru]

Thank you.

[@floridanativeplantsociety]

You're welcome!