Question

Mention any four strategies adopted by flowering plants to prevent self-pollination.

Hint:

Hydrophilous pollination in aquatic plants like Vallisneria and Zostera ensures efficient pollen transfer through water currents. To prevent self-pollination, plants use strategies such as dioecism, temporal separation, and structural barriers.

Answer 1

Strategies to Prevent Self-Pollination: Flowering plants have evolved several strategies to prevent self-pollination, which ensures genetic diversity. Four of these strategies are:
1. Dioecism: Male and female reproductive organs are on separate plants, preventing self-pollination.
2. Temporal Separation: The male and female flowers mature at different times (e.g., male flowers release pollen before the female flowers are receptive, or vice versa).
3. Physical Barriers: Flowers may have structural adaptations, such as longer stamens or styles, preventing the transfer of pollen from the same flower.
4. Heterostyly: Plants have different flower forms, such as short-styled and long-styled flowers, preventing self-pollination by ensuring that pollen from a short style cannot fertilize a short-style flower.