Pollen Tubes Enter Neighbouring Ovules by Way of Receptacle Tissue, Resulting in Increased Fruit‐set in Sagittaria potamogetifolia Merr.

Pollen tubes enter neighbouring ovules

An unusual route for pollen tube growth is described by Wang et al. (pp. 791-796) in Sagittaria potamogetifolia, a monoecious species with an apocarpous gynoecium. The mechanism is shown to increase fruit set, and this partially offsets the proportion of unpollinated stigmas in gynoecia of pistillate flowers.