Editing Pollination (section)

{{short description|Biological process occurring in plants}}
[[File:Pollination Diagram.svg|thumb|upright=1.25|Diagram illustrating the process of pollination]]
[[File:Bee carpenter with pollen.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|Female [[carpenter bee]] with pollen collected from a [[night-blooming cereus]]]]'''Pollination''' is the transfer of [[pollen]] from an [[anther]] of a plant to the [[stigma (botany)|stigma]] of a plant, later enabling [[fertilisation]] and the production of [[seed]]s.<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Barrows EM | date = 2011 | title = Animal Behavior Desk Reference. A Dictionary of Animal Behavior, Ecology, and Evolution. | edition = Third | publisher = CRC Press LCC | location = Boca Raton, FL. | pages = 794 }}</ref> Pollinating agents can be animals such as insects, for example bees, beetles or butterflies; birds, and bats; water; wind; and even plants themselves. Pollinating animals travel from plant to plant carrying pollen on their bodies in a vital interaction that allows the transfer of genetic material critical to the reproductive system of most flowering plants.<ref>{{Cite web |title=About Pollinators |url=https://www.pollinator.org/pollinators |access-date=2023-11-03 |website=Pollinator.org |language=en-US}}</ref> [[Self-pollination]] occurs within a closed flower. Pollination often occurs within a species. When pollination occurs between species, it can produce [[hybrid (biology)|hybrid]] offspring in nature and in [[plant breeding]] work. 

In [[angiosperm]]s, after the pollen grain ([[gametophyte]]) has landed on the [[stigma (botany)|stigma]], it germinates and develops a [[pollen tube]] which grows down the [[style (botany)|style]] until it reaches an [[ovary (botany)|ovary]]. Its two [[gamete]]s travel down the tube to where the gametophyte(s) containing the female gametes are held within the [[carpel]]. After entering an ovule through the [[Micropyle (botany)|micropyle]], one male nucleus fuses with the [[Polar body|polar bodies]] to produce the [[endosperm]] [[Tissue (biology)|tissues]], while the other fuses with the [[egg cell]] to produce the [[embryo]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Fritsch|first1= Felix Eugene|last2= Salisbury |first2=Edward James | name-list-style = vanc |title= An introduction to the structure and reproduction of plants |publisher= G. Bell |year=1920 |url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924001698905}}</ref><ref name="Maus">{{cite book | last = Mauseth | first = James D. | name-list-style = vanc | title = Botany: An Introduction to Plant Biology. | publisher = Jones & Bartlett | date = 2008 | isbn = 978-0-7637-5345-0 }}</ref> Hence the term: "[[double fertilisation]]". This process would result in the production of a seed, made of both nutritious tissues and embryo.

In [[gymnosperm]]s, the ovule is not contained in a carpel, but exposed on the surface of a dedicated support organ, such as the scale of a cone, so that the penetration of carpel tissue is unnecessary. Details of the process vary according to the [[division (botany)|division]] of gymnosperms in question. Two main modes of fertilisation are found in gymnosperms: [[cycad]]s and ''[[Ginkgo]]'' have motile sperm that swim directly to the egg inside the ovule, whereas [[conifer]]s and [[gnetophyte]]s have sperm that are unable to swim but are conveyed to the egg along a pollen tube.

Pollination research covers various fields, including botany, horticulture, entomology, and ecology. The pollination process as an interaction between flower and [[pollinator|pollen vector]] was first addressed in the 18th century by [[Christian Konrad Sprengel]]. It is important in horticulture and [[agriculture]], because [[fruit]]ing is dependent on fertilisation: the result of pollination. The study of pollination by insects is known as ''[[anthecology]]''. There are also studies in [[economics]] that look at the positives and negatives of pollination, focused on bees, and how the process affects the pollinators themselves.