Setting the record straight on some commonly misused or confused terms in the avocado industry. Here we tackle the use of the terms pollinator and polliniser.
Simply explained, the BEE is the “pollinator” and the tree that provides fertile pollen for another tree is the “polliniser”.
Polliniser: A plant that provides fertile pollen.
Pollinator: The biotic agent that moves pollen from one flower to another; bee, wasp, fly, bird, moth, beetle etc.
Here’s a few other related terms while we are on this topic:
Pollinate: The act of moving pollen from one flower to another.
Pollinise: To provide pollen, to pollinate.
Self-pollination: Pollen is transferred from the anther to the stigma of the same flower.
Close-pollination: Pollen is transferred from the anther of one flower to the stigma of another flower on the same flowering plant.
Cross-pollination: Pollen is transferred from the anther of one plant to the stigma of another plant.