Pollen 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. Pollen itself is not the male gamete. Each pollen grain contains vegetative (non-reproductive) cells (only a single cell in most flowering plants but several in other seed plants) and a generative (reproductive)
Pollen tube the pollen tube responds to extracellular guidance signals to achieve fertilization. Pollen tubes are produced by the male gametophytes of seed plants. They act as conduits to transport the male gamete cells from the pollen grain—either from the stigma (in flowering plants) to the ovules at the base of the pistil or directly through ovule tissue in some gymnosperms. Pollen tubes were first discovered by Giovanni Battista Amici. Pollen tube formation is important for sexual reproduction to occur in seed plants. Plants have separate structures such as microsporocytes and megasporocytes and the pollen grains are transported to the female gametophyte