The process of transferring pollen from the male reproductive part of a flower known as the anthers to the female reproductive part of the flower known as the stigma is referred to as what?
reproduction
inoculation
fertilization
pollination
In order to study these characteristics, Mendel needed to control the pollination of the pea plants through artificial fertilization . Pollination occurs when the pollen from the male reproductive part of a flower, called the anthers , is transferred to the female reproductive part of a flower, called the stigma . Pea plants are self-pollinating , which means the pollen from a flower on a single plant transfers to the stigma of the same flower or another flower on the same plant. In order to avoid self-pollination, Mendel removed the anthers from the flowers on a plant. He then carefully transferred pollen from the anthers of another plant and using a small paintbrush, dusted the pollen onto the stigma of the flowers that lacked anthers. This process caused cross-pollination. The Figure below shows the location of the male and female parts of a flower. Cross-pollination occurs when pollen from one flower pollinates a flower on a different plant. In this way, Mendel controlled the characteristics that were passed onto the offspring. The product of cross-pollination is known as a hybrid. The ability to cross-pollinate pea plants allowed Mendel to study the offspring of two parents with different traits, such as a tall stem or a short stem.