Characters of Anemophilous Flowers (Insect-pollination)
• Flowers are small and inconspicuous.
• Non-essential floral parts are reduced or absent.
• Flowers are usually colourless, nectarless and odourless.
• Flowers are developed above the foliage, usually in hanging spikes or catkins.
• Male flowers are more abundant in case of unisexual flowers. In bisexual flowers stamens are more abundant.
• Anthers are exserted and versatile.
• Pollen grains are small and light. They may have air sacs or wings.
• Pollen grains are dry and unwettable. This protects the pollen from moisture present in the air.
• Stigmas are exserted, hairy feathery or branched to capture the pollen grains. The cob of Maize has elongated stigmas
• and styles which sway in wind to trap pollen grains.
• A very large number of pollen grains are produced, e.g., 500000 per flower in Cannabis, 25 million by a tassel of Maize and 135 million by Mercurialis.
• Pistils commonly possess single ovules.
Examples: Anemophily is common in grasses. Other examples are Amaranthus, Cannabis, Chenopodium, Coconut, Date, Mulberry, Poplar, Willow, etc. (Any four points)
