At 12:28 PM 9/2/99 -0700, Jon Greenberg wrote:
>I have been criticized for referring to pollen as the male gamete. How
>do you all handle this issue? Do you say that seed plants have sperm
>cells, and the pollen is simply a structure that carries these gametes?
>
I refer to pollen as the male gametophyte. I point out that it is
"multicellular". Since plants use the alternation of generations life
cycle (multi-cell haploid and diploid stages), gametophytes are an
important stage to discuss. We discuss tube nuclei, sperm, etc.
Dave
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