1. What is the function of a flower? sex
2. What produces pollen? the
anther
3. Are plants usually self-fertilizing or cross-fertilizing?
cross-fertilizing
4. With what does the orchid “copulate”? a
wasp
5. How does the orchid use the wasp? the
wasp transfers pollen to other orchids
6. How is grass pollen transferred? by
wind
7. Is wind-pollination efficient? no
8. How do flowers advertise to pollinators? ultraviolet
patterns in the petals
9. What price do flowers pay to get pollinators?
nectar
10. How do plants protect their investment from
the wrong pollinators? water trap (moat of teasel);
ants that guard the bloom
11. What organisms pollinate plants at night? moths,
bats
12. Do plants have mobile parts? yes
(stamen of trigger plant)
13. What pollinators are common in the desert?
ants
14. Are mammals used as pollinators? yes
(pygmy possum)
15. How do birds transfer pollen? by
their heads or feet
16. How does the arum deceive the blowflies into
becoming pollinators? smell and look like rotting
flesh; flies lay eggs which die from starvation.
17. What happens to pollen that doesn’t pollinate
a plant? it may be eaten by animals
18. How is the ribbon plant unusual? it
is aquatic and produces male and female plants
19. What does the plant do to ensure that some
pollen gets to the female? releases large quantities
of pollen
20. How does the Drias of Greenland attract pollinators?
concentrates heat around the center of the flower
21. Do flowers require specific pollinators? yes
22. How does the Corianthis orchid attract its
bee pollinators? it produces wax used by the bee
to make pheromones
23. Why does the orchid hold the bee trapped? allows
the pollen glue to dry
24. Why should we be concerned about plant sex?
without it, there would be no life on earth as we
know it!