How Plants Use Scoop-Shaped Pores to Distribute Their Pollen Efficiently

Approximately 30,000 species of flowering plants have "poricidal anthers" from which pollen can only be released when bees apply mechanical vibrations to them. In a new study recently published in Nature Communications, a research team at the Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research at the University of Vienna found that the shape of the plant's anther pore determines how pollen is released. The scientists discovered that anthers bearing scoops around their pores expel their pollen in narrower, more targeted jets than anthers lacking such scoops, which normally scatter pollen in broad clouds. Furthermore, scoop-bearing anthers release pollen at faster speeds. The team further learned that scoop-shaped pores are sensitive in their functionality to the exact nature of the vibration applied. Findings such as these are particularly important in light of more frequent temperature extremes altering flower vibrational properties, and declines in bee abundance and diversity.