A pollen-presenter is an area on the tip of the

style Style is a manner of doing or presenting things and may refer to: * Architectural style, the features that make a building or structure historically identifiable * Design, the process of creating something * Fashion, a prevailing mode of clothing ...

in flowers of plants of the family Proteaceae on which the anthers release their pollen prior to

anthesis Anthesis is the period during which a flower is fully open and functional. It may also refer to the onset of that period. The onset of anthesis is spectacular in some species. In ''Banksia'' species, for example, anthesis involves the extension ...

. To ensure

pollination Pollination is the transfer of pollen from an anther of a plant to the stigma of a plant, later enabling fertilisation and the production of seeds, most often by an animal or by wind. Pollinating agents can be animals such as insects, birds, a ...

, the style grows during anthesis, sticking out the pollen-presenter prominently, and so ensuring that the pollen easily contacts the bodies of potential pollination vectors such as bees, birds and

nectarivorous In zoology, a nectarivore is an animal which derives its energy and nutrient requirements from a diet consisting mainly or exclusively of the sugar-rich nectar produced by flowering plants. Nectar as a food source presents a number of benefits a ...

mammals. The systematic depositing of pollen on the tip of the style implies the plants have some strategy to avoid excessive

self-pollination Self-pollination is a form of pollination in which pollen from the same plant arrives at the stigma of a flower (in flowering plants) or at the ovule (in gymnosperms). There are two types of self-pollination: in autogamy, pollen is transferred ...

References

* Plant anatomy + Proteaceae {{Botany-stub