polliniumn.
/pəˈlɪnɪəm/, U.S. /pəˈlɪniəm/ Botany.
A cohesive mass of pollen grains formed within a pollen sac, serving as a unit of pollination and characteristic of plants of the families Orchidaceae and Asclepiadaceae.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > part of plant > reproductive part(s) > flower or part containing reproductive organs > [noun] > parts of > stamen or pistil > pollen and related parts
sandarac1623
globulet1671
powder1672
bread1682
farina1721
pollen1723
father-dust1728
rough wax1744
yellow rain1755
dust1776
fovilla1793
anther dust1797
pollen mass1828
pollen tube1830
intextine1835
pollen grain1835
pollen granule1835
exine1839
exintine1839
intine1839
pollinium1849
sulphur shower1854
pollinic mass1857
pollen chamber1863
smoke1868
pollen sac1872
pollinarium1881
sulphur rain1882
pollinic chamber1885
perine1895
pollen content1926
sculpturing1943
monad1947
nexine1948
sexine1948
1849 J. H. Balfour Man. Bot. i. ii. 202 In Orchidaceous plants, the pollen grains are united into masses or pollinia, by means of viscid matter. In Asclepiadaceæ.., the pollinia..seem to have a special cellular covering.
1875 A. W. Bennett & W. T. T. Dyer tr. J. von Sachs Text-bk. Bot. 488 Contrivances by means of which insects..extract from the pollen-sac the pollinia or the masses of pollen which are glued together.
1914 F. E. Fritsch & E. J. Salisbury Introd. Study Plants xxi. 273 A single large stamen with two very distinct anther-lobes, each containing a coherent mass of pollen-grains (a so-called pollinium).
1972 Science 12 May 600/3 Pollen from a single flower becomes attached to the foraging insect in a mass, the pollinium.
1994 New Scientist 30 July 16/2 Orchids are self-sterile, so there has been strong selection pressure to ensure that the pollinium is delivered to a plant at some distance.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1849