Pollenizer

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A pollenizer (or polleniser), sometimes pollinizer (or polliniser, see spelling differences ) is a plant that provides pollen. [1]

The word pollinator is often used when pollenizer is more precise. A pollinator is the biotic agent that moves the pollen, such as bees, moths, bats, and birds. Bees are thus often referred to as 'pollinating insects'.

The verb form to pollenize is to be the source of pollen, or to be the sire of the next plant generation.

While some plants are capable of self-pollenization, pollenizer is more often used in pollination management for a plant that provides abundant, compatible, and viable pollen at the same flowering time as the pollinated plant. For example, most crabapple varieties are good pollenizers for any apple tree that blooms at the same time, and are often used in apple orchards for the purpose. Some apple cultivars produce very little pollen or pollen that is sterile or incompatible with other apple varieties. These are poor pollenizers.

A pollenizer can also be the male plant in dioecious species (where entire plants are of a single sex), such as with kiwifruit or holly.

Nursery catalogs often specify that a cultivar should be planted as a "pollinator" for another cultivar, when they actually should be referring to it as a pollenizer. Strictly, a plant can only be a pollinator when it is self-fertile and it physically pollinates itself without the aid of an external pollinator.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kiwifruit</span> Edible berries native to northeast Asia

Kiwifruit or Chinese gooseberry is the edible berry of several species of woody vines in the genus Actinidia. The most common cultivar group of kiwifruit is oval, about the size of a large hen's egg: 5–8 centimetres in length and 4.5–5.5 cm in diameter. It has a thin, fuzzy, fibrous, tart but edible light brown skin and light green or golden flesh with rows of tiny, black, edible seeds. The fruit has a soft texture with a sweet and unique flavour.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pollen</span> Grains containing the male gametophytes of seed plants

Pollen is a powdery substance produced by most types of flowers of seed plants for the purpose of sexual reproduction. It consists of pollen grains, which produce male gametes. Pollen grains have a hard coat made of sporopollenin that protects the gametophytes during the process of their movement from the stamens to the pistil of flowering plants, or from the male cone to the female cone of gymnosperms. If pollen lands on a compatible pistil or female cone, it germinates, producing a pollen tube that transfers the sperm to the ovule containing the female gametophyte. Individual pollen grains are small enough to require magnification to see detail. The study of pollen is called palynology and is highly useful in paleoecology, paleontology, archaeology, and forensics. Pollen in plants is used for transferring haploid male genetic material from the anther of a single flower to the stigma of another in cross-pollination. In a case of self-pollination, this process takes place from the anther of a flower to the stigma of the same flower.

<i>Canna</i> (plant) Genus of flowering plants in the family Cannaceae

Canna or canna lily is the only genus of flowering plants in the family Cannaceae, consisting of 10 species. All of the genus's species are native to the American tropics and naturalized in Europe, India and Africa in the 1860s. Although they grow native to the tropics, most cultivars have been developed in temperate climates and are easy to grow in most countries of the world, as long as they receive at least 6–8 hours average sunlight during the summer, and are moved to a warm location for the winter. See the Canna cultivar gallery for photographs of Canna cultivars.

<i>Prunus cerasus</i> Species of tree

Prunus cerasus is a species of Prunus in the subgenus Cerasus (cherries), native to much of Europe, North Africa and West Asia. It is closely related to the sweet cherry, but has a fruit that is more acidic. Its sour pulp is edible.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pollinator</span> Animal that moves pollen from the male anther of a flower to the female stigma

A pollinator is an animal that moves pollen from the male anther of a flower to the female stigma of a flower. This helps to bring about fertilization of the ovules in the flower by the male gametes from the pollen grains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Petal</span> Part of most types of flower

Petals are modified leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the corolla. Petals are usually accompanied by another set of modified leaves called sepals, that collectively form the calyx and lie just beneath the corolla. The calyx and the corolla together make up the perianth, the non-reproductive portion of a flower. When the petals and sepals of a flower are difficult to distinguish, they are collectively called tepals. Examples of plants in which the term tepal is appropriate include genera such as Aloe and Tulipa. Conversely, genera such as Rosa and Phaseolus have well-distinguished sepals and petals. When the undifferentiated tepals resemble petals, they are referred to as "petaloid", as in petaloid monocots, orders of monocots with brightly colored tepals. Since they include Liliales, an alternative name is lilioid monocots.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pollination</span> Biological process occurring in plants

Pollination is the transfer of pollen from an anther of a plant to the stigma of a plant, later enabling fertilisation and the production of seeds, most often by an animal or by wind. Pollinating agents can be animals such as insects, for example beetles; birds, butterflies, and bats; water; wind; and even plants themselves. Pollinating animals travel from plant to plant carrying pollen on their bodies in a vital interaction that allows the transfer of genetic material critical to the reproductive system of most flowering plants. When self-pollination occurs within a closed flower. Pollination often occurs within a species. When pollination occurs between species, it can produce hybrid offspring in nature and in plant breeding work.

<i>Malus</i> Flowering genus, rose family Rosaceae

Malus is a genus of about 30–55 species of small deciduous trees or shrubs in the family Rosaceae, including the domesticated orchard apple, crab apples and wild apples.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fruit tree pollination</span>

Pollination of fruit trees is required to produce seeds with surrounding fruit. It is the process of moving pollen from the anther to the stigma, either in the same flower or in another flower. Some tree species, including many fruit trees, do not produce fruit from self-pollination, so pollinizer trees are planted in orchards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pollination management</span> Horticultural practices to enhance pollination

Pollination management is the horticultural practices that accomplish or enhance pollination of a crop, to improve yield or quality, by understanding of the particular crop's pollination needs, and by knowledgeable management of pollenizers, pollinators, and pollination conditions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Self-pollination</span> Form of pollination

Self-pollination is a form of pollination in which pollen from the same plant arrives at the stigma of a flower or at the ovule. There are two types of self-pollination: in autogamy, pollen is transferred to the stigma of the same flower; in geitonogamy, pollen is transferred from the anther of one flower to the stigma of another flower on the same flowering plant, or from microsporangium to ovule within a single (monoecious) gymnosperm. Some plants have mechanisms that ensure autogamy, such as flowers that do not open (cleistogamy), or stamens that move to come into contact with the stigma. The term selfing that is often used as a synonym, is not limited to self-pollination, but also applies to other type of self-fertilization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Open pollination</span> Pollination by natural agents, or true-breeding in plant varieties

"Open pollination" and "open pollinated" refer to a variety of concepts in the context of the sexual reproduction of plants. Generally speaking, the term refers to plants pollinated naturally by birds, insects, wind, or human hands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buzz pollination</span>

Buzz pollination or sonication is a technique used by some bees, such as solitary bees, to release pollen which is more or less firmly held by the anthers. The anthers of buzz-pollinated plant species are typically tubular, with an opening at only one end, and the pollen inside is smooth-grained and firmly attached. With self-fertile plants such as tomatoes, wind may be sufficient to shake loose the pollen through pores in the anther and accomplish pollination. Visits by bees may also shake loose some pollen, but more efficient pollination of those plants is accomplished by a few insect species who specialize in sonication or buzz pollination.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Honeycrisp</span> Apple cultivar

Honeycrisp is an apple cultivar developed at the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station's Horticultural Research Center at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. Designated in 1974 with the MN 1711 test designation, patented in 1988, and released in 1991, the Honeycrisp, once slated to be discarded, has rapidly become a prized commercial commodity, as its sweetness, firmness, and tartness make it an ideal apple for eating raw. "...The apple wasn't bred to grow, store or ship well. It was bred for taste: crisp, with balanced sweetness and acidity." It has larger cells than most apple cultivars, a trait which is correlated with juiciness, as theoretically a higher number of cells rupture when bitten, releasing more juice in the mouth. The Honeycrisp also retains its pigment well and has a relatively long shelf life when stored in cool, dry conditions. Pepin Heights Orchards delivered the first Honeycrisp apples to grocery stores in 1997. The name Honeycrisp was trademarked by the University of Minnesota, but university officials were unsure of its protection status in 2007. It is now the official state fruit of Minnesota. A large-sized honeycrisp will contain about 113 calories.

Plant breeders use different methods depending on the mode of reproduction of crops, which include:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flower</span> Reproductive structure in flowering plants

A flower, also known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants. Flowers consist of a combination of vegetative organs – sepals that enclose and protect the developing flower, petals that attract pollinators, and reproductive organs that produce gametophytes, which in flowering plants produce gametes. The male gametophytes, which produce sperm, are enclosed within pollen grains produced in the anthers. The female gametophytes are contained within the ovules produced in the carpels.

Plant reproduction is the production of new offspring in plants, which can be accomplished by sexual or asexual reproduction. Sexual reproduction produces offspring by the fusion of gametes, resulting in offspring genetically different from either parent. Asexual reproduction produces new individuals without the fusion of gametes, resulting in clonal plants that are genetically identical to the parent plant and each other, unless mutations occur.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Apple</span> Fruit that grows on a tree

An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree. Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus Malus. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, Malus sieversii, is still found. Apples have been grown for thousands of years in Asia and Europe and were introduced to North America by European colonists. Apples have religious and mythological significance in many cultures, including Norse, Greek, and European Christian tradition.

Blueberry shock virus (BlShV) is an Ilarvirus belonging to the Bromoviridae family. The Bromoviridae family contains single-stranded, positive-sense RNA viruses. Virus particles are icosahedral and 30 nm in diameter. Blueberry shock virus causes shock of blueberries in Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia. It gets its name because plants are shocked by the initial infection, meaning the flowers and foliage blight and wilt in the early spring, right when the plant is in full bloom. BIShV was first discovered in a blueberry field containing highbush blueberry in Washington in 1991. It continued to spread to Oregon, Washington and British Columbia since that time. In 2009, the disease was found in a western Michigan field, and may be preset in Pennsylvania as of 2011. Since its discovery, eradication is in progress to eliminate the disease and reduce loss of yield from it.

References

  1. Alladin, Erin (2022-03-15). "Pollenizers: No, they're not pollinators; yes, you probably need them". Earth Undaunted. Retrieved 2024-01-10.