Re: That "drop of fluid" on the stigma

BSteg46464@aol.com wrote:
> 
> Fertility and the best time to apply the pollen to the stigma seems to be a
> frequent and recurring topic of discussion.  I just today saw this in a book
> borrowed from a friend and thought it might be of interest to other robins:
> "The pistil, however, is just beginning its share of the drama.  When pollen
> grains reach its stigma, they are caught and held in a sticky liquid.
> Stimulated by the sugary fluid, a tube breaks through the wall of each grain
> and pushes its way down through the style and into the ovary.  Some of these
> tubes find ovules and enter them.  Then the contents of the pollen grains flow
> down into the tubes, leaving the empty shells on the  stigma."
> >From Flower to Fruit  written by Anne Ophelia Dowden
> 
> This does seem to answer the question about the best time to apply the pollen.
> 
> Bev Stegeman
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
>Bev
After 20 years of hybridizing, I still believe that the optimum time for
making a cross, requires two things.  The presence of the liquid on the
stigma, and the condtion of the pollen on the anther, fluffy.  Ben Z
disagrees.  He claims to have sucessfull crosses made way out side these
perameters.  I have to think , though, that the more "grains" of "good"
pollen that "stick" to the stigma, the better chances for a productive
cross.  The resulting differences, could be in seedling numbers, as well
as quality.  I will do more observation and recording of results this
year.  
Ran
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