Pollen

Most people know about pollen because of it's unpleasant side effect - hay fever. I suffered for many years with itchy eyeballs and nose which could become unbearable when the pollen count was high.

Pollen is the male gametophyte of seed plants. Both cone-bearing plants and flowering plants produce pollen as part of  reproduction. In cone-bearing plants pollen is produced in the male cones or pollen cones while in flowering plants pollen is produced in the anthers (part of the stamen within the flower). Each pollen grain typically consists of one to a few cells. The wall of the pollen grain consists of two layers, the exine (outer wall) and intine (inner wall). The exine may be smooth or ornamented with spines, warts, granules, pores or furrows. The distinctive ornamentation permits the identification of the pollen grains.

Pollen is primarily dispersed by insects or wind.. It is the wind-pollinated plants that are the cause of hay fever.

When pollen is released by wind-pollinated plants, only a small percent reaches a receptive stigma or female cone. At the proper season, pollen can be so abundant that clouds of it can be seen emanating from vegetation disturbed by wind or shaking. Although much of this pollen settles close to the source, some is carried by long distances by the wind.

I hadn't had much interest in examining pollen under a microscope. Most of it seemed to be coffee bean shaped with no discernible colour, shape or texture. It was only in the spring of 2014 that I realized just how varied pollen could be. Using stacking techniques and LED lights I set about photographing pollen from any source I could find. It opened up a new world for me.  I have always been fascinated by geometrical and fractal forms in nature and here was a rich source of such varied shapes, colours and sizes. I was hooked.

1. Pine pollen. Each grain has two air sacs, one either side, which help disperse it in the air. The male cones produce large amounts of pollen and when left overnight on my desk they were surrounded by a pale yellowish powder in the morning..

This pollen has numerous spikes which help it to cling to passing insects.

Some pollen grains have amazing geometrical shapes. This is a pollen grain of Common Fumitary.

 Chicory has multi-faceted pollen grains.

 Common Mallow has large spiked pollen grains which clump together.

Dandelion also has multi-faceted pollen grains.

Greater Burnett Saxifrage pollen.

Pollen grains vary greatly in size. Seen here is pollen from a forget-me-not on the right - just 0.006 millimeters in diameter. The large pollen grain on the bottom left is from a variety of lilly. 

Pollen is found on the Anthers of flowering plants. There are some striking colour combinations between anthers and pollen in the following images. Particularly interesting are varieties of Geranium.

 The anthers of the Orange Hawkweed wind and unwind depending on sunlight.

Common Mallory anthers and pollen looking like a basket full of balls.

The pollen itself can be coloured. See below.
White pollen grains of Common Mallory.

 Purple pollen from a variety of Geranium. Note the tiny intruders , groundsel pollen grains.

 Another variety of Geranium pollen has a distinct greenish glow,
 Pale yellow pollen on a light brown anther of the honeysuckle flower.
 Bright yellow pollen from a variety of lilly.

 Yellow/brown pollen from a different variety of Lilly.

 Orange pollen from a Horse Chestnut blossom.

 White pollen on bright blue anthers from a Speedwell flower.

Many pollen varieties have textured or ribbed surfaces. See images below.