Abstract

One of the main differences between most plants and animals is that the former cannot move in search of a partner to mate and thus needs a vector, which can be inanimate, such as wind or water, or an animal, vertebrate or invertebrate, to transport the male gametes (pollen) among flowers. This passivity has caused plants to evolve a great variety of adaptations, either to disperse the pollen, for instance by attracting animal pollinators with a reward, or to become independent of pollen vectors, that is, by reproducing asexually or by self-pollinating.