Celebrating Wildflowers - Pollinators - Wind and Water Pollination

USDA Forest Service Celebrating Wildflowers

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	Wind and Water Pollination Outlawed! Federal Noxious Weeds: The Aquatics (PDF) Many flowers are pollinated without the aid of animals (insect, bird, or mammal). Here are a few examples. Wind Pollination Most conifers and about 12% of the world’s flowering plants are wind-pollinated. They include grasses and their cultivated cousins, the cereal crops; many trees; the infamous allergenic ragweeds; and others. All release billions of pollen grains into the air so that a lucky few will hit their targets. Wind-pollinated flowers are typically: No bright colors, special odors, or nectar Small Most have no petals Stamens and stigmas exposed to air currents Large amount of pollen Pollen smooth, light, easily airborne Stigma feathery to catch pollen from wind May have staminate and pistillate flowers, may be monoecious or dioecious Usually single-seeded fruits, such as oak, grass, birch, poplar, hazel, dock, cat-tail, plantain, and papyrus Water Pollination Pollen can also float on the water’s surface drifting until it contacts flowers. This is called surface hydrophily and is relatively rare. This water-aided pollination occurs in waterweeds and pondweeds. In a very few cases, pollen travels underwater. Many of the water-pollinated plants have become invasive throughout the United States. To learn more, visit these invasive species websites: U.S. Forest Service Invasive Species Program National Invasive Species Information Center
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Last modified: Tuesday, 20-May-2008 15:56:26 EDT