Pollination and Dispersal

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Pollination and Dispersal

• Form and Function

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Pollination

• Pollination is how gymnosperms (cone-bearing seed
  plants) and angiosperms (flowering plants) carry
  out sexual reproduction.
• Pollen carries the male sex cells from one plant
  to the next, allowing plants to cross with other
  plants far away.
• A vector is a means of moving pollen from plant
  to plant. Vectors may be wind or animals.

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Wind Pollination

• All gymnosperms are wind-pollinated.
• Flowering plants that are wind-pollinated have
  flowers that lack showy petals.
• Anthers and stigma are often long and sticky or
  feathery.

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Bee Pollination

• Honeybees seek nectar and pollen.
• Bees can see ultraviolet, and home in on flowers
  that are blue, purple, or have UV markings. They
  have well-developed sense of smell.
• Bees prefer flat platform-shaped flowers or
  large, open tubes.

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Hummingbird Pollination

• Hummingbirds seek nectar - LOTS of nectar.
• Hummingbirds dont have a good sense of smell.
  They see orange and red the best.
• Hummingbirds sip from pendulous tube-shaped
  flowers that other nectar-feeders cant access.

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Butterfly Pollination

• Butterflies seek nectar.
• Butterflies are attracted to platform-shaped
  flowers or clusters of very small, upright,
  tubular flowers.
• Butterflies have a keen sense of smell, and can
  see orange, yellow, blues, and purples.

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Moth Pollination

• Moths seek nectar.
• Moths have a well-developed sense of smell.
• Moths are attracted to highly-scented, tubular,
  bright white flowers.

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Who is the Pollinator?
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Scarlet Gilia
Unscented, nectar-rich
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Moonflower
Evening-blooming, highly scented
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Aster
Nectar and pollen rich
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Ceanothus
Pollen rich
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Nicotiana
Evening-blooming, highly scented
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Fuchsia
Unscented, nectar-rich
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Borage
Good pollen and nectar source
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Echniacea
Abundant pollen, good nectar source
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Asclepias
Good source of nectar and pollen
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Foxglove
Good nectar and pollen source
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Yucca
Scented, nectar-rich
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Buddleia
Highly-scented, nectar rich
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Agastache
Nectar-rich
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Liatris
Good source of nectar and pollen
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Rudbeckia
Abundant pollen, good nectar source
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Observe these two gardens. What have they been
planted to attract?
W O R K T O G E T H E R
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Fruit Dispersal
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Dispersal

• Once a fruit and seeds have formed, its
  essential for the seed to be moved away from the
  parent plant to avoid competition.
• As with pollination, seed dispersal involves many
  different vectors.
• Adaptations that we see on fruits and seeds helps
  tell us what the dispersal vector is.

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Ballistic dispersal

• Some plants disperse their seeds themselves.
• Explosive dry fruits that shatter on contact or
  when shaken throw seeds far from the parent
  plant. Some fruits use build up hydraulic
  pressure until they burst.

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Wind dispersal

• Lightweight dry fruits with wings, parachutes,
  and similar wind-catching structures can be blown
  away from the parent plant.

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Water dispersal

• Hollow, water-resistant fruits can be dispersed
  long distances by moving water.

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Animal dispersal

• Two types of fruits are animal dispersed
• Fruits that can cling to fur.
• Edible fruits whose seeds can go through a
  digestive system, or may get discarded when the
  animal eats.

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How is it dispersed?
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Mangrove
Hollow, floating fruits. This tree grows in salt
water swamps.
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Cherry
Fleshy, sweet-tasting fruit with a hard pit.
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Thistle
Small, dry fruits have long feathery threads
extending from them.
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Bedstraw
Fruits are small, sticky, with small barbs.
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Squirting Cucumber
Pressure builds inside of the fruit until it
finally pops off of the stem. Juices with
slippery seeds squirt out.