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how does male pollinate them?
for example china boy holly and china girl holly?
how many china boys are needed to pollinate say 5 china girl hollies?

does this always take place in spring time?
is that why pollen is soo bad then?
and this pollination allows what to happen?

(sorry, i am new to this stuff)

2007-02-17 22:49:40 · 3 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics Botany

3 answers

Here is a pedantic, overly technical answer to your question.
The berries ARE ovaries (like animals of all kinds may have), and swell up to protect the developing young inside. The young are the seeds, which roughly correspond to babies of animals. A fruit might contain just one egg (young), or many-many. Plants tend to conform to others of their same species for this characteristic. The eggs of a plant are exactly like the eggs of animals (functionally), and so they are the female part of the process. And pollen is like sperm, so it is the male contribution. However, one pollen grain may usually only pollenate one egg, and so a flower that produces many eggs can usually do better if it gets a lot of pollen grains, to produce more seeds. The pollen might just come from one other flower (or even the same flower - but not in hollies), or from many different ones. It is better if it comes from many other flowers of the same species. But in the end - one pollen and one egg can produce one seed. Insects like bees can help a lot in this. And flowers usually open in the spring, so that their fruit can develop over the summer, and be ready by autumn. But close to the tropics, this can be different, because the plants don't necessarily run out of time if winter comes, (it might stay warm and still be good for producing fruit).

2007-02-19 05:36:06 · answer #1 · answered by ghart27 3 · 0 0

I agree with John H. If you look at the holly bushes in the spring, you will see the tiny white flowers. Hollies like China Girl and China Boy have separate sexes: the male flowers are on separate plants than the female flowers. One male holly can pollinate all the females in the whole neighborhood. You don't even have to have one at your house at all. If you aren't sure that someone else has a male holly, then just plant one. The males do not produce the bright red berries, so the male holly can go in the back of the planting and the females in the front where you can see them. The pollen is air-borne.

2007-02-18 12:53:20 · answer #2 · answered by ecolink 7 · 0 0

The flower on the plant such as the holly contains the ovary which is comparable to female egg. Once the flower is pollinated the zygote or embryo begins to develop. This is the berry that you are asking about. The mature berry would be comparable to the human baby. Ready to plant and grow into another plant. The male part of the flowers produce anthers which contain thousands of pollen grains. It only takes one pollen grain to fertilize one ovary. So one male flower could theoretically pollinate hundreds of female ovaries.
In most cases this does take place in the Spring, and yes this is why the pollen count is so high and pollen allergies are so bad in the Spring. Hope this helps you out. Good luck.

2007-02-18 11:50:39 · answer #3 · answered by john h 7 · 0 0

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