Pollen cell. In flowering plants the vegetative tube cell produces the pollen tube, and the generative cell divides to form the two sperm cells. Pollen is produced in the microsporangia in the male cone of a conifer or other gymnosperm or in the anthers of an angiosperm flower. Pollen grains come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, and surface markings characteristic of the species (see electron micrograph, right). Pollen grains of pines, firs, and spruces are winged. The smallest pollen grain, that of the forget-me-not ("Myosotis" spp.), is around 6 µm (0.006 mm) in diameter. Wind-borne pollen grains can be
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