About Our Project

Our hypothesis is that the larger a flower's anther is, the larger its pollen grains will be.  To prove this, we chose three flowers with varying anther sizes to see if their size would have an impact on the grain sizes.  We used Asian Lilies, Alstroemeria, and Christmas Pepper flowers.  Using the SEM, we took pictures of the pollen grains and measured their lengths.  In addition, we did research to see if the scientific community supports our claim.


When we were first deciding which species to analyze, we wanted to pick species with very different anther sizes. For our large anther, we chose the Asiatic Lily. For our medium sized anther, we chose Alstroemeria aurea. For the smallest size, we chose the Christmas Pepper, for its incredibly tiny flower (and anther).
After collecting the anthers, we measured the anther length and width. Then we dried them in a food dehydrator to put in the SEM. Some time during this process, two of our samples vanished.
To replace the lost samples, we dehydrated new lily and Christmas Pepper flowers. For the alstroemeria, we used samples provided by our Biology teacher, Ms. Lindahl.

After dehydrating the anthers, I used a paintbrush to transfer pollen onto the SEM stub. In the case of the christmas pepper, Mr. V assisted in dissecting the flower, and I transfered the pollen, along with part of the anther, onto the stub.

Then we sprayed the stub with liquid air to help the samples adhere, and to remove any extra debris. Then we were ready for the SEM.