Montinia caryophyllacea pollen grain travels

Montinia caryophyllacea flowers can be produced on stems where few leaves are present. Flower production is here phased, serving pollinators over an extended period, allowing at least some of the flowers a chance of living through lenient climatic conditions, optimising seed set. The male bush in picture only contributes the pollen, much of it.

Prolonging the plant’s active pollen delivery interval by phased flowering increases the number of opportunities for transferring pollen from anthers to stigmas. The landed grains absorb moisture and nutrients from the stigmatic surfaces when recognised by the compatible stigmas. This triggers germination in the pollen grains. They respond by developing tubular outgrowths that penetrate the stigma surfaces and grow down through the styles toward the ovaries. The tubes are chemically guided by signals from the ovules.

The journeys end in the fusion of male and female gametes within the ovules (Euston-Brown and Kruger, 2023; Curtis-Scott, et al, 2020; iNaturalist; https://biologynotesonline.com).