False-colour scanning electron micrograph of pollen grains of Common Mallow, Malva sylvestris. The grains are spherical & about 108 micrometres across

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False-colour scanning electron micrograph of pollen grains of Common Mallow, Malva sylvestris. The grains are spherical & about 108 micrometres across. Their outer wall (exine) consists of numerous sharp spines which enables the pollen to attach to the body appendages of insects. The pollen is thus dispersed to other flowers which the insect visits. When the pollen, containing the male gametes, is transferred to the stigma of another flower, it germinates. A pollen tube grows out from the grain, down through the stigma, to the ovary. The male nuclei pass down the tube, fertilize the ovules & a seed is formed. Magnification: x220 at size. JBU colouring: green & yellow. BW original is B786/250.

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Size: 4578px × 3839px
Photo credit: © DR JEREMY BURGESS/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: botany, colouring, common, jbu, mallow, malva, nature, plant, plants, pollen, reproduction, reproductive, sylvestris, type