A pollen-presenter is an area on the tip of the
style
Style, or styles may refer to:
Film and television
* ''Style'' (2001 film), a Hindi film starring Sharman Joshi, Riya Sen, Sahil Khan and Shilpi Mudgal
* ''Style'' (2002 film), a Tamil drama film
* ''Style'' (2004 film), a Burmese film
* '' ...
in flowers of plants of the family
Proteaceae
The Proteaceae form a family (biology), family of flowering plants predominantly distributed in the Southern Hemisphere. The family comprises 83 genus, genera with about 1,660 known species. Australia and South Africa have the greatest concentr ...
on which the
anthers
The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10
Morphology and terminology
A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filamen ...
release their
pollen
Pollen is a powdery substance produced by most types of flowers of seed plants for the purpose of sexual reproduction. It consists of pollen grains (highly reduced Gametophyte#Heterospory, microgametophytes), which produce male gametes (sperm ...
prior to
anthesis
Anthesis is the period during which a flower is fully open and functional. It may also refer to the onset of that period.
The onset of anthesis is spectacular in some species. In ''Banksia'' species, for example, anthesis involves the extension ...
. To ensure
pollination
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 seeds. Pollinating agents can be animals such as insects, for example bees, beetles or bu ...
, the style grows during anthesis, sticking out the pollen-presenter prominently, and so ensuring that the pollen easily contacts the bodies of potential pollination vectors such as bees, birds and
nectarivorous mammals. The systematic depositing of pollen on the tip of the style implies the plants have some strategy to avoid excessive
self-pollination
Self-pollination is a form of pollination in which pollen arrives at the stigma of a flower (in flowering plants) or at the ovule (in gymnosperms) of the same plant. The term cross-pollination is used for the opposite case, where pollen from ...
.
References
*
Plant anatomy
+
Proteaceae
{{Plant-morphology-stub