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)
Parthenium hysterophorus production, an additive in manure for biogas production, as a biopesticide, and as green manure and compost. Contact with the plant causes dermatitis and respiratory malfunction in humans, and dermatitis in cattle and domestic animals. The main substance responsible is parthenin, which is dangerously toxic. It also is responsible for bitter milk disease in livestock when their fodder is polluted with "Parthenium" leaves. Among other allelopathic effects of the species, the presence of "Parthenium" pollen grains inhibits fruit set in tomato, brinjal, beans, and a number of other crop plants. Light infestations of "Parthenium hysterophorus" in cultivated fields may be