The aerodynamics of wind pollination

Abstract

A number of morphologic features have evolved in evolutionarily divergent plant groups that appear to increase the efficiency of wind pollination. Among these features are the appearance of low density pollen grains, female ovulate organs that direct air currents carrying pollen toward stigmas or micropyles, and population structures with a high density of con-specifics. This paper reviews the aerodynamic theory, and the experimental and field data that are relevant to an understanding of the adaptive significance of these and other features of anemophily. Emphasis is placed on the mathematical description of the behavior of airflow patterns around ovulate organs. The efficiency of wind pollination is shown to be dictated principally by the vectoral properties of air currents created by and around ovulate organs and the physical properties of pollen that dictate their behavior as airborne particles.