How does pollen get to the bog?
Plants use different ways of getting the
pollen to the egg of another flower – some
pollen is carried by wind, like birch pollen, and
other plants attract insects, like beetles, bees or
butterflies by producing sweet nectar. Birds do
sometimes pollinate flowers, but this is more common
in tropical countries than in Britain.
Hazel
pollen is transported from
thesecatkins to a female flower
by wind © SNH
|
Giant hogweed is pollinated by
insects, mainly flies and beetles
© SNH |
Not all of the pollen produced makes it
to another flower. To the flower, this is wasted,
because it doesn’t produce seeds, but it is just
what palynologists want because every year some of
this unsuccessful pollen lands in places where it is
preserved – like bogs or lakes.
These preserved pollen grains can tell
us what plants grew there in the past because pollen
from different plants (or groups of related plants)
looks different under the microscope.
Heather (Calluna
vulgaris) flowers © SNH
Each of
these pollen grains is about 20-30 micrometres across
- that is just 0.02-0.03mm.
More information and pictures
of pollen grains
geo.arizona.edu/palynology/
www.kv.geo.uu.se/pollen/quickpollen.html
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