Academic Decathlon Science Practice Test 2026 – Your All-in-One Guide to Mastering the Science Decathlon!

In flowering plants, fertilization depends on pollination, because the male gametes must reach the female gametes inside the ovule. Pollination is the transfer of pollen from the anther to the stigma, which allows the pollen grain to land in a position where it can germinate and grow a pollen tube down the style to the ovule. Once the pollen tube reaches the ovule, fertilization can occur when the sperm nuclei unite with the egg.

Pollenogenesis is the production of pollen grains, not fertilization. Germination describes the pollen grain beginning to grow after landing on a compatible surface, which is a step that happens after pollination but does not by itself enable fertilization. The idea of fertilization without pollen transfer does not apply to flowering plants, since the delivery of male gametes to the ovule requires pollen to be transferred to the female parts.