Read the given statements:
I. Plant species have a mucilaginous covering on their pollen grains.
II. This type of pollination is rare in flowering plants and is primarily observed in about 30 genera, mostly monocotyledons.
III. Examples of plants include Vallisneria, Hydrilla.
IV. In some species pollen grains are often long and ribbon-like.
The above features are the characteristics of:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → Hydrophily (pollination by water)
Hydrophily is pollination in which water carries the pollen. Each of the four statements is a feature of water-pollinated plants.
Option (1) Hydrophily (pollination by water) — Correct. Water pollination is rare and mostly in monocots; fresh-water examples are Vallisneria and Hydrilla. Pollen carried passively in water is often long and ribbon-like, and a mucilaginous covering keeps it from getting wet.
Option (2) Anemophily (pollination by wind) — Incorrect. Wind-pollinated flowers have light, non-sticky pollen, well-exposed stamens and feathery stigmas. Wind pollination is common (for example in grasses), not rare.
Option (3) Ornithophily (pollination by birds) — Incorrect. Bird-pollinated flowers are visited by sunbirds and humming birds. Their pollen is sticky so that it coats the bird; it has no mucilage against water.
Option (4) Entomophily (pollination by insects) — Incorrect. Insect pollination is the most common type in flowering plants. Such flowers are large, colourful and fragrant, with nectar, which is the opposite of the rare, plain water-pollinated flowers.
NCERT Extract:
Pollination – “… Pollination by water is quite rare in flowering plants and is limited to about 30 genera, mostly monocotyledons. … Some examples of water pollinated plants are Vallisneria and Hydrilla which grow in fresh water and several marine sea-grasses such as Zostera. … Pollen grains in many such species are long, ribbon like and they are carried passively inside the water; some of them reach the stigma and achieve pollination. In most of the water-pollinated species, pollen grains are protected from wetting by a mucilaginous covering.”