Pollination
- CBSE · NCERT Class 10, Ch 7 How do Organisms Reproduce?
Pollination is the transfer of pollen grains from the anther of a stamen to the stigma of a flower.
The stamen is the male part of a flower and makes pollen. The pistil is the female part. Its top, which may be sticky, is the stigma. Pollen has to reach it. There are two kinds of pollination:
- Self-pollination: pollen reaches the stigma of the same flower.
- Cross-pollination: pollen goes from one flower to another. Wind, water or animals carry it.
Pollination is not fertilisation. After the pollen lands, a tube grows out of it, through the style, to the ovary. Only then can the germ-cells fuse.
A small example
A papaya flower has either stamens or a pistil, not both. So its stigma must get pollen from another flower. A mustard flower has both, so self-pollination is possible.
Where marks go
Question 4 of CBSE's 2026-27 Science sample paper removes the anthers of a mustard bud and covers it with a paper bag. What happens? The board's Science marking scheme for 2026-27 gives its 1 mark to: no seeds or fruits form. With no anthers there is no pollen of its own, and the bag keeps other pollen out.
Diagrams carry marks too. A marking scheme gives marks for correct, named labels, such as stigma, pollen tube and ovary. Read how diagram labels are marked.
Sources
Facts last checked against these sources on 30 September 2026.
- Science, Class X (2026-27), Chapter 7: How do Organisms Reproduce? · NCERT
- Science (086) Marking Scheme, Class X 2026-27 - Question 4 · CBSE Academic Unit
- Science (086) Sample Question Paper, Class X 2026-27 - Question 4 · CBSE Academic Unit
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