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Showing posts with the label pollinators

WHY OUR LIVES DEPEND ON POLLEN

                                       WHEN springtime comes around, bees get busy and pollen fills the air. For people who suffer from allergies, pollen seems to be a curse rather than a blessing. But before we dismiss pollen as just a nuisance of nature, we should keep in mind the role this unique dust plays. We may be surprised to learn how much our lives depend on it. What exactly is pollen? Pollen consists of tiny grains that are produced in the male organs of flowering and cone-bearing plants. Simply stated, plants produce pollen in order to reproduce. As we know, in humans a female egg must be fertilized by a male sperm in order for a child to be produced. Similarly, the female organs of a flower [the pistil] need pollen from the male organ [the stamen] in order to be fertilized and produce fruit. Fertilization can be either by cross-pollination [pollen delivered from another plant] or self-pollination [pollen received from the same individual plant]. Neve