Yellow Snow

This photo was taken on March 12th; the day that we got a little bit of snow in Wilmington. This photo was taken in my front yard and depicts a pile of pollen directly beside a layer of icy snow. I loved the contrast of this photo because pollen is something that is typically associated with Spring and snow is usually associated with Winter. As I was taking this photo, I was thinking about pollination and how the melting of the snow could be an influence. Upon doing some research, I learned that once the ice melts and the pollen is in/on the water it is called surface hydrophily. It turns out that this mode of pollen dispersal in relatively rare too. In fact, this mode of pollination is typically only found in water weeds and pond weeds because they release their seeds directly into the water. Many species that pollinate using this method also become invasive species in the U.S. although I could not obtain any specific species from my research. Considering that the plants in my front yard are not aquatic species, its is unlikely that the water transport of pollen will be successful.

 

Sources:

www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/pollinators/wind.shtml

www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/pollinators/Plant_Strategies/

 

Done