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What happens to pollen grains after a gnetophyte pollination drop dries?
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Gnetophyte
Welwitschia, or tumboa (Welwitschia mirabilis), in Namibia.
When the sugary pollination drop of a gnetophyte dries, the pollen grains are pulled inward through the opening of the integument (the micropyle). Once inside, they come to rest on the nucellus, where the pollen grain germinates and sends a pollen tube toward the egg cell to facilitate fertilization.1