Insect Pollinated and Wind Pollinated Flowers  

In cross-pollination, pollen grains are carried from one flower’s anther to the stigma of a separate flower, resulting in a more complicated sort of pollination than the simple type. Tulips, dandelions, and daffodils are the most well-known examples of flowers that have been cross-pollinated.

Difference

Agent of Pollination 

1. The wind serves as the pollination agent.
2. Insects are the pollination agents in this case.

The morphological characteristics of a flower 

1. The wind-pollinated flowers have light-colored petals and do not have a particularly nice strong scent.
2. The insect-pollinated blossoms have vividly coloured petals and a rich scent that is pleasant to the senses.

Pollen Grains are a type of grain that contains pollen.

1. In flowers that are pollinated by the wind, the pollen grains that are produced are smaller and lighter in weight, making them easier to transport by the wind.
2. In insect-pollinated flowers, the pollen grains generated are larger in size, sticky, and spiky, which aids the insect in transporting the pollen grains to the pollinator.

Stigma 

1. Stigma is feathery or sticky in texture, and it is found hanging out of flowers’ petals. 
2. The stigma is tiny and is located deep within the petals of the flower.

Stamens 

1. The stamens are lengthy and visible when the petals are removed.
2. Stamens can be small and buried among the petals of flowers.

In many cases, the anthers of the flower are visible being sustained outside of the bloom.

The anthers are located deep within the flower’s structure.

Filaments The filaments found in these blooms are slender and lengthy, similar to spider webs.

The filaments present in these blooms are strong and short, which makes them ideal for weaving.

No Nectar Produced by These Flowers These flowers do not generate nectar.

These blooms produce a significant amount of nectar.

Wastages 

As the number of pollen grains produced increases, there is a significant amount of waste.

Because a smaller amount of pollen grains are created, there is no wastage.

Only unisexual blooms are produced by plants.

Plants produce blooms that are both male and female.

Pollination by the wind 

Wind pollinating flowers may be small and without petals, and they may not have any distinctive colours, smells, or nectar. These plants produce a large quantity of tiny pollen grains in a short period of time. It is for this reason that plants pollinated by the wind may be allergens, but plants pollinated by animals are rarely allergens. Their stigmas may be big and feathered in order to collect pollen grains as they fly by. Insects may pay them a visit to harvest pollen, but they are typically inefficient pollinators and have little effect on the natural selection of the flowers. Anemophilous flowers, also known as wind pollinated flowers, are small and inconspicuous in appearance, and they do not have a perfume or generate nectar. The anthers can produce a great number of pollen grains, whereas the stamens are typically lengthy and protrude from the centre of the flowers. Flowers that are pollinated by both wind and insects are instances of anemophilous flowers (flowers that are pollinated by two different types of pollinators) that exist.

A pollen cloud is seen rising from a stand of Engelmann spruce.

Pollen clouds rise above an Engelmann spruce woodland, obscuring the view. Al Schneider captured this image.

Wind pollinates the majority of conifers and approximately 12 percent of the world’s flowering plants. In addition to grasses and their cultivated siblings, wind pollinated plants include cereal crops and numerous trees, as well as the notoriously allergenic ragweeds, among many others. All of them release billions of pollen grains into the air in the hopes that a select few will land on their intended targets.

Features

Flowers that are pollinated by the wind are typically: 

1. There will be no vivid colours, unusual odours, or nectar.
2. Small
3. The majority of them are devoid of petals.
4. Stamens and stigmas that have been exposed to wind currents

Pollen Grains

Pollen is smooth and light, and it is easily dispersed by the wind.

Stigma is feathery in order to catch pollen carried by the breeze.

It is possible to have staminate and pistillate flowers, and it is possible to be monoecious or dioecious.

Fruits that are usually single-seeded, such as oak, grass, birch, poplar, hazel, dock, cat-tail, plantain, and papyrus, are examples of such trees.

Pollination by insects 

It is a type of pollination in which insects play a role that is called insect pollination. A simple explanation is that pollen travels from the stigma of insects through the stamens and onto the flower’s stamens. Insect fertilisation flowers have a number of characteristics that make them excellent for pollination by insects. Flowers that attract insects for pollination are often brightly coloured. They do have a wonderful scent about them. In addition, the blossoms are enormous and noticeable in the landscape. The stamens of these flowers are little and tucked up within the petals of the bloom. Flowers that are pollinated by insects, for example, produce nectar that attracts insects. The pollen produced by these blooms is little. The pollen, on the other hand, is sticky. Bees, Coleoptera (butterflies and moths), scorpions, flies, ants, and beetles are some of the pollinators that exist.

Some plants, on the other hand, are generalists, meaning that they are pollinated by insects belonging to a variety of orders. Entomophilous plant creatures have used a variety of tactics to attract insects, including brightly coloured or fragrant blossoms, syrup, and appealing forms and patterns, among other things, to attract insects. Fine pollen grains from anemophilous (air) plants are frequently bigger in size than pollen grains from entomophilous (insect-loving) plants, which must be produced in significantly greater quantities due to the high proportion of wasted pollen. This is energy-intensive, whereas entomophilous plants must bear the metabolic costs associated with nectar production on their own dime.

There are some useful research tasks that might be done to aid in understanding:

The safety of wild bee people and communities is a priority. The various pollinator facilities are provided by cityscapes in a sequential manner.

Pollination by the wind 

Plants pollinate themselves when the wind blows through them, and this is known as wind pollination. Flowers that are pollinated by the wind are often small and unattractive. Furthermore, such flowers produce a huge quantity of pollen that is light in weight and feathery in texture. Not just anyone, but they have stamens that are long filamented. The stigmas of these insects are enormous and fluffy in appearance. Wind-pollinated flowers, in contrast to insect-pollinated blossoms, do not have nectar glands on their petals. They don’t have the same smell as each other. Wet or intermittently dry ecosystems with temperate climates and few mammalian pollen vectors are associated with wind pollination. Pollen distribution caused by rainfall is also unaffected by wind pollination.

Conclusion 

Pollination can take place in two ways: by insect pollinators or through wind pollination. Insect pollination is carried out by insects, whereas wind pollination is carried out by the wind. Flowers produced through insect cross-pollination are often big, colourful, fragrant, and nectar-rich. On the other hand, wind pollination flowers are few and lack fragrance. Furthermore, the flowers are still unattractive and do not contain any sugary nectar. Flowers that are pollinated by insects produce less pollen, whereas flowers that are pollinated by the wind produce a higher quantity of feathery, light-weighted pollen. As a result, the distinction between insect pollination and wind pollination is very discernible.