SINCE 1828
pollen grain
nounDefinition of pollen grain
: one of the granular microspores that occur in pollen and give rise to the male gametophyte of a seed plant
Examples of pollen grain in a Sentence
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Andrew Laurence, 33, and Shannon Ferguson, 32, are forensic palynologists who specialize in the identification of pollen grains. — Nick Miroff, Washington Post, "Pollen ‘nerds’: U.S. government enlists scientists to track drug loads, crack cold cases," 30 Aug. 2019 For example, a single corn plant produces 2 [million] to 5 million pollen grains, and an ear of corn has a few hundred seeds. — Brigit Katz, Smithsonian, "Watch This Pine Tree Unleash a Huge, Fluffy Pollen Cloud," 10 May 2018 The peptides are the molecular signal that triggers the body’s immune system, so more peptides on a given pollen grain increases the severity of the allergy. — Umair Irfan, Vox, "It’s not your imagination. Allergy season gets worse every year.," 28 Apr. 2018 In 2000, there were about 8,000 pollen grains per meter cubed. — CBS News, "How climate change is making allergy season worse," 20 Apr. 2018 Bigelow has pulled cores from the bottom of lakes in Western Alaska to find pollen grains and bits of ancient plants. — Ned Rozell, Anchorage Daily News, "Was the Bering Land Bridge a good place to live?," 24 Feb. 2018 In the real world, this type of movement first came to attention in 1827 when the English botanist Robert Brown observed the random movements of pollen grains suspended in water. — Quanta Magazine, "A Unified Theory of Randomness," 2 Aug. 2016 The seemingly random motion was caused by individual water molecules bumping into each pollen grain. — Quanta Magazine, "A Unified Theory of Randomness," 2 Aug. 2016 In the real world, this type of movement first came to attention in 1827 when the English botanist Robert Brown observed the random movements of pollen grains suspended in water. — Quanta Magazine, "A Unified Theory of Randomness," 2 Aug. 2016These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'pollen grain.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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