Notes

The steps of pollination begin when a pollen grain lands on a plant's stigma, which causes a pollen tube to grow down the plant's style; male sperm use this tube to reach the female ovules and fuse with them. During the last steps in the pollination process, the ovules become the plant's seeds while the ovary develops into the fruit.
The pollination process transfers pollen from the male part of a plant, the stamen, to the female part, the carpel. Pollination is a method of sexual reproduction used by plants to produce fruit. Approximately 80 percent of pollination cases require other animals such as insects, bats and birds to carry pollen from one plant to another.
During the first step of pollination for most plants, an insect lands on a plant to feed on its nectar and accidentally brushes up against pollen grains. The insect then spreads the pollen to another plant when it lands to feed again. This process is called cross-pollination. Wind may also initiate the first step of the pollination process, carrying pollen from one plant to another.
Pollen grains are not gametes like sperm or eggs. Instead, they are male haploid gametophytes that travel to the female gametophytes to produce the gametes. Once the pollen grains reach the female stigma, they germinate and grow pollen tubes to the ovaries.