Plants have sex. It’s true. While it may only be a vaguely similar process to the sex participated in by humans and animals, plants engage in sexual reproduction quite often. There is a series of steps that plants go through to create offspring. It isn’t the most romantic process, but it can be fascinating nonetheless. Learning how plants reproduce sexually can give you a better understanding of the life cycle of the various plants species. The flowering plant is the easiest to understand. Pollination is the first required step in sexual plant reproduction. The male portion of the plant produces the pollen—typically in the flower. A long filament, called a stamen, holds the bits of pollen at the end and one of several pollinators take the pollen to the female part of the flower, called the pistil. Pollinators can be insects or birds drawn to the plant by the colorful flowers and fragrance for the nectar inside. As they enjoy the plant, the pollen sticks to their bodies and is carried away to another flower that may contain the pistil. The wind can also carry pollen to other flowers, as can water in some species. Some plants have male and female parts on the same flower and can self-pollinate. In any event, pollination requires the movement from the stamen to the pistil so reproduction can continue.
