Spring Pollination

The stamen is the male reproductive part of the flower which produces the sticky powder called pollen. The stamen consists of a slender filament and sac-like structures called anthers. The six anthers in the tulip are laden with yellow pollen. The star-shaped structure in the center is the stigma which receives the pollen at pollination. The stigma is held up by a slender style and collectively, this is called the pistil, or the female reproductive part of the flower. Pollen has to be moved from the stamen to the stigma for pollination to occur.


Photo Credit:jennysh_who

These are photos which I took of a tulip and lily on the kitchen counter. These illustrate stamens of varying heights. Flowers that are pollinated by wind often have long stamens like the lilies.

Photo Credit:UkeMatt
Active during the day, bees visit flowers to get pollen to feed the babies and nectar to make honey. They use their senses of sight and smell to lead them to flowers. They prefer sweet-smelling flowers and blossoms that are yellow, blue, purple, and white (red looks like black to them).

Flowers try to attract bees by having brightly colored petals, pretty smells, and very sweet nectar. Bees and flowers help each other. This kind of relationship in nature is called symbiosis.


Photo Credit:jackrubi
Powdery pollen stick to the hairy bodies of bees as they visit flowers looking for nectar and pollen. As the bees fly from one flower to another to gather nectar, some of the pollen fall off and a new flower is pollinated. The back legs of the worker females have little sacs to carry pollen.

Photo Credit:superhunters
When a hummingbird dives into a flower to sip the sugary nectar, pollen will stick to the hummingbird's beak and then rub off on the next flower the bird visits. Hummingbirds also have an advantage over other pollinators - they can hover next to the flower to feed; other types of birds perch to feed.


Photo Credit:sankax
The Flower Fly is reputed to outperform bees as pollinators in orchards. Flies, gnats, mosquitoes are not as hairy as bees and efficient in carrying pollen, but some are good pollinators. Flies are attracted to flowers that are pale, dark to purple, and have a putrid odor like rotten meat like the Skunk Cabbage. Tiny gnats are attracted to the fungus-like smell of the Jack-in-the pulpit flowers.


Photo Credit:riversdie mc
This Cape Sugarbird is busy feeding on nectar. Larger birds with long bills usually visit larger flowers.


Photo Credit:sankax
This Queen Butterfly (Danaus gilippus) looks very regal on a Mexican Hat Flower (Ratibida columnaris). Active during the day, butterflies use their sense of sight to lead them to flowers. They prefer flowers that are red or orange. Since butterflies are not strong enough to hover, like hummingbirds, they must land on flowers to feed on nectar with their long tongues called proboscis, which act like straws to sip nectar.


Photo Credit:sankax
This Northern Paper Wasp forages for food. Wasps look like bees, but are generally not covered with fuzzy hairs. As a result, they are much less efficient in pollinating flowers, because pollen is less likely to stick to their bodies and to be moved from flower to flower. Wasps, like bees, have very high-energy needs that must be met for their survival. Wasps need key resources such as pollen and nectar from a variety of flowers. The true wasps have stingers that they use to capture insects or spiders for food for their larvae.


Photo Credit: Monarcaxx
Did you know that mosquitoes are pollinators? Mosquitoes are known pollinators of bog orchids, Habenaria obtusata.


Photo Credit:Cristo Bolaños
Beetles are especially important pollinators for ancient species such as magnolias and spicebush. Some types of magnolias drop their stamen when ripe and that is when the pollen gathering party of beetles begin. Beetles will eat their way through petals and other floral parts. They even defecate within flowers, earning them the nickname "mess and soil" pollinators. Research has shown that beetles are capable of color-vision. Beetles prefer flowers that are white to dull white and strongly fruity.

This Geoffrey's marmoset feeds on tree sap for its meal which necessitate it to bite on the bark and get the sap flowing. When the tree forms a gum to plug up the hole, the marmoset rips up the bark, eats the gum and licks up the sap. This delightful marmoset seems to be teasing the photographer by sticking out its tongue.

Photo Credit:Steve
Monkeys in the rainforests are great pollinators for certain species of trees. When a monkey rips apart a fruit to eat it, it gets its furry face into the seeds and carry these around as it swings from tree to tree. The seeds will fall into the ground and eventually germinate.

Photo Credit:Chris Fawbert

Whether it is a red fox, a green iguana, a leopard frog, an alligator prowling around in the swamp, all these creatures great and small help pollinate the earth. Pollen gets stuck to the furry or slimy bodies and rub against other plants, grass, trees. Mother Nature has great helpers in pollination.

Photo Credit:CaptPiper

After dark, moths and bats take over the night shift for pollination. Nocturnal flowers with pale or white flowers heavy with fragrance and nectar, attract these pollinators.
Not all moth pollinators are nocturnal; some moths are also active by day. Some moths hover above the flowers they visit while others land.


Photo Credit:Ivan PS

Attract Honey Bees Wildflower Seed Mixture for Pollination 500 + Seeds

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Fragrant Flower Garden Mix 10,000 Seeds/15 Grams

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The Natural History of Pollination

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(Credo)

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Storey's Guide to Keeping Honey Bees:
Honey Production, Pollination, Health
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Experimental pollination; an outline of the ecology of flowers and insects