Pollination and fertilisation in plants

Follow one pollen grain

Tap each stage to look closer. Watch for the exact point where pollination stops and the journey to fertilisation begins.

1. 1Pollen is made in the antherPollen grains are made in the anther, at the top of the stamen. Each grain carries the plant's male gametes.+
2. 2POLLINATION: pollen lands on a stigmaWind, water or an animal such as an insect carries the pollen to a stigma. Moving pollen from an anther to a stigma is pollination.+
3. 3A pollen tube grows down the styleThe pollen is sitting on top of the flower, but the ova are hidden deep inside it. So a pollen tube forms, reaching down through the style.+
4. 4The male gametes travel to the ovaryThe male gametes move down the pollen tube until they reach the ovary.+
5. 5FERTILISATION: a male gamete fuses with an ovumIn the ovary, a male gamete fuses with an ovum (the female gamete). Their nuclei join to make a zygote. Fertilisation takes place in the ovary, not on the stigma.+
6. 6The zygote becomes an embryo, then a seedThe zygote develops into an embryo, and then into a seed. Later, the seed can germinate and grow into a new plant.+

Biology · Anatomy

tap a part to read what it does

The whole flower: the plant's reproductive system.

Switch between the male and female parts, then tap any part to read what it does.

What you need to know

• The flower is a plant's reproductive system. The stamen (an anther on a filament) is the male part. The stigma, style, ovary and ovules make up the female part. Petals attract pollinators.
• Pollination is the transfer of pollen from an anther to a stigma. Pollen can be carried by wind, by water or by animals such as insects.
• Self-pollination moves pollen to the stigma of the same flower. Cross-pollination moves it to a flower on another plant of the same species, and increases variation.
• After pollination, a pollen tube grows down the style and the male gametes travel down it to the ovary.
• Fertilisation is the fusion of the nuclei of a male gamete and an ovum. In plants it takes place in the ovary and makes a zygote.
• Each gamete carries half a set of chromosomes, so the zygote has a full set. The new plant has half its DNA from each parent.
• The zygote develops into an embryo and then a seed. Germination, when the seed grows a stem, leaves and roots, is a separate, later process.

The big picture

Pollination and fertilisation are two separate stages of sexual reproduction in a flowering plant. Pollination is the transfer of pollen from an anther to a stigma, by wind, water or animals such as insects. Then a pollen tube grows down the style, and the male gametes travel down it to the ovary. Fertilisation happens there: a male gamete fuses with an ovum to make a zygote, which develops into an embryo and then a seed. Each gamete carries half a set of chromosomes, so the zygote has a full set and the new plant resembles both parents.

⚠ Watch out

Using 'pollination' and 'fertilisation' as if they mean the same thing. Pollination only moves pollen onto the stigma. Fertilisation comes later, in the ovary, when a male gamete fuses with an ovum.

Memory hook

P comes before F, in the alphabet and in the flower. Pollination happens up on the stigma, then Fertilisation happens down in the ovary. Pollination delivers; fertilisation fuses.

Check yourself

Cover the page. Where does pollination end, and where does fertilisation happen? What grows down the style, and what travels down it? Why does the zygote end up with a full set of chromosomes?