Sunday 8 May 2016

3.3 describe the structures of an insect-pollinates and wind-pollinated flower and explain how each is adapted for pollination

Okay so first it is best to know what each of the plant does, I have put this in red so if you know it just skip past...

The anther - contains pollen grains (these produce the male gametes/sex cells)
the filament - holds up the anther so they are easily reached by insects brushing against them
The stigma - the sticky bit where the pollen grains attach to
the style - this supports the stigma
the ovary - the ovary contains the female gametes, eggs (inside ovules)

Insect pollinated
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Brightly coloured petals to attract insects
Scented flowers and nectaries, again to attract insects
The pollen grains are big and sticky, to easily stick to insects as they fly from plant to plant
A sticky stigma so that any pollen picked up from other plants will stick to the stigma.



Wind pollinated
 

In wind pollinated plants, there are no/small/dull petals as no insects need to be attracted
no scents or nectaries
small light pollen grains (and lots of them) so they can be easily carried by the wind
Long filaments that hang the anthers outside the flower so that lots of pollen gets blown away by the wind (hence wind-pollination)
A big feathery stigma to catch pollen carried past by the wind.

image credit: sacsplash.org // Wikipedia

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