Sweet pea pollen, SEM

Sweet pea pollen. Coloured scanning electron micrograph (SEM) The sweet pea, Lathyrus odoratus, is a flowering plant in the genus Lathyrus in the family Fabaceae (legumes), native to Sicily, southern Italy and the Aegean Islands. It is an annual climbing plant grown for its flower colour and intense unique fragrance. Pollen grains are the male sex cells of a flowering plant. Their characteristic surface is used by botanists to recognise and classify plants. Pollen in plants is used for transferring 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. Magnification: x800 when printed at 10cm wide., by STEVE GSCHMEISSNER/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY