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pollen tube
noun
: a tube that is formed by a pollen grain and conveys the sperm nuclei to the embryo sac of an angiosperm or the archegonium of a gymnosperm
Examples of pollen tube in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The pollen tube was used as a model system for a recent study on the effects of altered gravity on plant reproduction because a response in the pollen tube takes a matter of mere seconds.
—Perrin Ireland, Discover Magazine, 25 Mar. 2013
How many readers could get excited by the fact that a single primrose plant can produce two kinds of flowers, virtually identical but one with a long style (the stalk that channels pollen tubes to the ovary) and one with a short style?
—David Quammen, The New York Review of Books, 8 Apr. 2020
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Word History
First Known Use
1830, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near pollen tube
Cite this Entry
“Pollen tube.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pollen%20tube. Accessed 22 Dec. 2024.
Kids Definition
pollen tube
noun
: a tube that is formed by a pollen grain as it grows down the style and that carries the sperm nuclei to the embryo sac of a flower
More from Merriam-Webster on pollen tube
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about pollen tube
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