Pollination Glossary

Flower structures
Male:
filament:   The stalk or organ that holds the anthers, absent in some flowers.
anther:   The pollen producing organ of flowers. Some produce pollen on the exterior, some produce it internally and release it thru pores.
stamen:   The entire male structure, including filament and anther.
pollen:   The male reproductive spores of a flower.
pollen grain:   A single male reproductive spore.
pollen tube:  A growth of germinating pollen down the style of the pistil, to the ovary where it joins with an ovule in fertilization.

Female:
stigma:  The sticky end of the pistil, where pollen adheres in pollination. Often it is divided into lobes.
style:  The stalk that supports the stigma.
pistil:  The style and stigma together, the external female structures of the flower
ovary:  The organ which contains the ovules or incipient seeds. If only one ovule is present it is also called the carpel. If there are many ovules, the ovary may be divided into segments; each segment is then called a carpel. Generally the ovary becomes the fruit, while the ovules become the seeds.
ovule:  The female reproductive cell is enclosed in the ovule, which, when fertilized, becomes the seed.
carpel:  see ovary
petal:  A flower appendage, usually showy to attract attention from pollinators.
sepal:  A protective flower appendage, the remnants of the bud enclosure, usually green and inconspicuous.

Flower Types
perfect flowers:  Having both male and female organs within the same flower. Some people erroneiously think that this means the flower will self pollinate.
monecious: Having separate male and female flowers, but on the same plant, as with cucumbers and melons.
dioecious:  Having separate male and female flowers on separate male and female plants, as with kiwi fruit or holly.

Pollination Terms

pollination:  The transfer of pollen from anther to stigma, in plant reproduction.
pollinator:  The agent that transfers pollen in pollination. Pollinators are most often bees, but can be birds, butterflies, beetles, bats or even humans.
pollenizer (sometimes pollinizer):  A plant that provides viable pollen for pollination. Some plants mutually pollenize each other, as two varieties of apple or cherry. Some pollenizers are male plants that provide no fruit, as in kiwi fruit, or plants that have little commercial value but are used simply to provide pollen, as crab apples in an apple orchard.

   A common error is to call plants pollinators, or to say one plant pollinate another. Plants cannot pollinate; they pollenize.

sterile pollen:  Pollen which is incapable of germination. These plants cannot be used as pollenizers.
fertilization:  The joining of male and female gametes in the ovary, in plant reproduction.
self incompatible or self sterile or self unfruitful:   A plant whose stigma will place chemical or physical barriers against its own pollen.
self fertile:  Pollen from the same plant or a clonal fruit variety can germnate and fertilize the ovules.

   Self fertile and self sterile and not absolutes in most cases but rather relative. Many plants that are regarded as self fertile will yield better in quantity or quality when cross pollinated.

self pollination:  The plant with no aid from any pollinator can form seeds. Peanuts, green peas, and green beans are examples where the flower actually grows the anthers and stigma into direct contact.  It is misleading to use the term for plants that require a pollinator to move pollen, such as peaches, or for plants that only sometimes self pollinate, but require aid to make a commercial crop.
self pollenisation:  A plant that does not truly self pollinate; it requires a pollinator, but can achieve a commercial crop with only its own pollen.   Remember that an orchard block of a single variety is genetically a single plant (clone)
cross pollination:  Transfer of pollen between two genetically different plants. Self sterile plants require cross pollination.

parthenocarpic:  The ability to produce (seedless) fruit without pollination. Some citrus is parthenocarpic, also there are some cucumber parthenocarpic varieties.  Not all seedless fruit is parthenocarpic. Seedless watermelons require pollination but the seed usually does not mature.

cultivar:  A cultivated variety.

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