Pollination vs. Fertilization: What's the Difference?
Read the comparison below, or explore it visually. Create a visual lesson comparing pollination and fertilization using available credits or plan allowance.
Pollination is the transfer of pollen from an anther to a stigma, while fertilization is the fusion of a male gamete with the egg cell inside the ovule. Pollination is a physical delivery that happens on the outside of the flower and always comes first. Fertilization follows only if the pollen grain germinates and grows a pollen tube down to the ovule.
At a glance
| Pollination | Fertilization | |
|---|---|---|
| What happens | Pollen grains land on a stigma | Male gamete fuses with the egg cell |
| Where | Outside, on the stigma surface | Inside the ovule, within the ovary |
| Order | First step | Follows pollination and pollen tube growth |
| Agents needed | Wind, water, insects, birds or bats | Pollen tube carries the male gametes |
| Result | Pollen ready to germinate | Zygote forms; ovule becomes seed, ovary fruit |
Which should you use?
Use "pollination" for the moment pollen reaches a stigma, for example when bees carry pollen between mustard flowers or wind blows maize pollen onto the silks.
Use "fertilization" for the cell fusion inside the ovule that creates a zygote, the step after which a mango flower's ovary begins swelling into a fruit.