What Part of a Plant Makes Pollen?
Pollen is a powder made of grains holding the male gametes of seed plants. Pollen is produced in the male parts of these seed plants in cones or in flowers. Does this Spark an idea?
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Spermatophytes
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All seed plants are spermatophytes, and all spermatophytes reproduce sexually--that is, they have male and female parts. There are two groups of spermatophytes: angiosperms and gymnosperms. Angiosperms produce flowers and fruit. Gymnosperms such as conifers produce cones.
Pollen Carriers
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Wind or creatures carry pollen to the female gametes of plants for viable seeds to be produced. The gymnosperms largely employ wind to transport the pollen, while the angiosperms mostly use creatures.
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Showy vs. Modest Flowers and Pollen Carriers
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Flowers attract insects, birds and other animals by being attractive. As creatures move among the flowers, they pick up, then redeposit the pollen. You can tell those flowers that mainly use wind to carry pollen to female flowers for they are small.
Male and/or Female Flowers
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Angiosperms can produce flowers that are male or female, or flowers that have male and female parts in one bloom. These last flowers are called perfect, while the others are known as unisexual.
Male and Female Cones
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Gymnosperms produce male and female cones made up of rows of scales. Pollen is produced on the scales of male cones.
Anther
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In flowers, the androecium is the male part of the flower composed of a stamen made of a filament ending in an anther. It is the anther that produces pollen.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit Erika Thorpe
