A tree’s basic life form starts from a small seed containing a small embryo that grows and germinates in favourable conditions in the soil. After nurturing with proper sunlight, food, water, and nutrients, they grow into full-fledged plants.
But behind this process, many other processes are involved in bringing this life up to this remark. The fusion of gametes, double fertilization, fruit formation, the ovary’s fate, etc., is some of the processes involved in the whole lifecycle from the formation of seed to a grown tree or plant.
Key Takeaways
- Seeds represent the mature, fertilized ovules of plants, containing an embryo capable of germinating into a new plant.
- Pollen consists of microscopic grains produced by the male reproductive organs of seed-bearing plants, responsible for fertilizing the female ovules.
- Although both structures play roles in plant reproduction, seeds develop into new plants, while pollen enables fertilization and sexual reproduction.
Seed vs Pollen
The difference between Seed and Pollen is that seeds are the end product of any reproductive process in a fruiting plant, whereas, on another side, pollen is considered to be the initial requirement for the reproduction process. Another point of the major difference is that seeds are produced by the female part of the flowering plant that is from ovules, while pollens are produced from the male part of the flower that is from anther.
Seeds are the end product of the process of reproduction in any fruiting plant. The general structure of any seed comprises – plumule, radicle, micropyle, endosperm, epicotyl, embryo, and testa.
The location of seeds is differentiated based on angiosperm or gymnosperms and the basis of the presence of cotyledons, which are monocotyledons or monocots and dicots or dicotyledons.
Pollen is the powdery material that is dusted from the surface of the male reproductive part, known as anther. Pollen is comprised of two layers – one is an endospore that is made of cellulose, and the second one is an exospore and made of sporopollenin.
Scientists have found that the external layer of the pollen is sporopollenin is the hardest material ever to be found on the earth’s surface.
Comparison Table
| Parameters of Comparison | Seed | Pollen |
|---|---|---|
| Size | Large | Small |
| Reproduction Phase | End Product | Starting Requirement |
| Gametes | Absent | Present |
| Production | From female part | From male part |
| Cotyledons | Present | Absent |
| Structure | Radicle, testa, micropyle, hilum, plumule, endosperm, embryo | Exospore and endospore |
What is Seed?
A seed is a product with a hard coating outside and comprises an embryonic plant within it. Seeds are also available in different shapes, sizes, colors, etc.
They are the basic necessity required to plant a new tree. Unlike pollen grains, seeds do not carry any sexual gametes in them.
They are the successful result of the reproduction process occurring in any flowering plant. After the process, the ovules present in the ovary get the fate of becoming a seed.
The structure of the seed consists of many different parts: Radicle, epicotyl, testa, micropyle, hilum, plumule, endosperm, and embryo.
They are also categorized based on naked seeds and non-naked seeds. And the second type of categorization is based on the presence of the number of cotyledons in it.
Hen a single cotyledon is present, they are called a monocotyledon or monocot, and if the number is two, they are called dicotyledons or dicots.
What is Pollen?
Pollen is defined as the product obtained from the male reproductive part of the flowering plant. The appearance of pollens is in powdered form, and every pollen of different flowers has different shapes and sizes.
When pollens are viewed with the help of a microscope, many ridges and furrows are found to be located on them. Pollen grains have a structure of two layers inside a layer called endospore and are made of cellulose material, while the outside layer is called exospore and is made of sporopollenin material.
Scientists have claimed that sporopollenin is the hardest material, and its main function is to protect the grain.
When a pollen grain comes in contact with favourable conditions after landing on the stigma, it shows a growth in the structure and forms a tube that elongates inside it.
That is why they are said to be the initial requirement in the process of reproduction in flowering plants.
Main Differences Between Seed and Pollen
- The general size of the seed is large, whereas compared to the other hand, the general size of a pollen grain is small.
- The seed is obtained from the end product of the reproduction phase, whereas comparatively, on the other hand, the pollen is the initial requirement in the process of fertilization or, say, reproduction.
- The seeds don’t consist of any sexual gametes in them, whereas comparatively, on the other hand, the pollen grains consist of the male gamete.
- Seeds of a plant are produced from the female part that is from the Ovary in the form of ovules whose fate is to become a seed, whereas comparatively, on the other hand, pollens are produced from the male part of the flower, that is from anther.
- To be surprise, seeds are distinguished based on the number of cotyledons present in them, and they are referred to as monocots for a single cotyledon and dicots for two cotyledons, whereas comparatively, on another side, pollen doesn’t have such structure.
- The structure of a seed contains endosperm, embryo, hilum, testa, micropyle, radicle, and plumule, while comparatively, on another side, the structure of pollen consists of two layers called exospore and endospore.
- https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/pce.12589
- https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1365-294X.2011.05019.x
- https://bsapubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/j.1537-2197.1989.tb11303.x
- https://academic.oup.com/jhered/article/88/4/257/783677?login=true
Last Updated : 11 June, 2023
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Piyush Yadav has spent the past 25 years working as a physicist in the local community. He is a physicist passionate about making science more accessible to our readers. He holds a BSc in Natural Sciences and Post Graduate Diploma in Environmental Science. You can read more about him on his bio page.
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