reproduction summary

Pollination, transfer of pollen grains from the stamens (the flower parts that produce them) to the ovule-bearing organs or to the ovules (seed precursors) themselves. In gymnosperm plants such as conifers and cycads, in which the ovules are exposed, the pollen is simply caught in a drop of fluid

Sexual intercourse, reproductive act in which the male reproductive organ (in humans and other higher animals) enters the female reproductive tract. If the reproductive act is complete, sperm cells are passed from the male body into the female, in the process fertilizing the female’s egg and

Fertilization, union of a sperm nucleus, of paternal origin, with an egg nucleus, of maternal origin, to form the primary nucleus of an embryo. In all organisms the essence of fertilization is, in fact, the fusion of the hereditary material of two different sex cells, or gametes, each of which