Pollen is a powdery substance which are male microgametophytes of seed plants, whch produce the equivalent of male sperm cells. Pollen grains have a hard coat made of sporopollenin that protects the sperm cell (gametophytes) during the process of their movement from the stamens to the pistil of flowering plants or from the male cone to the female cone of coniferous plants. If pollen lands on a compatible pistil, it germinates, producing a pollen tube that trasfers the sperm to the ovule containing the female gametophyte. Individual pollen grains are small enough to require magnification to see detail. The study of pollen is called palynology and is hughly useful for archaeology and forensics.
Pollen in plants is used for transferring haploud 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.
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