pollen

Etymology

From Latin pollen (“fine flour”). Used by Linnaeus in the 18th century to describe the spores produced in the anthers of flowers.

noun

1. A fine, granular substance produced in flowers.
2. (botany) Pollen grains (microspores) produced in the anthers of flowering plants.
   In plants, the ability to recognize self from nonself plays an important role in fertilization, because self-fertilization will result in less diverse offspring than fertilization with pollen from another individual. 2013 May-June, Katrina G. Claw, “Rapid Evolution in Eggs and Sperm”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3
3. (obsolete) Fine powder in general, fine flour.
   and ther was good wyne of Gascoyne,[…]as well of pollen, as of other vitailes 1523-1525, John Bourchier, 2nd Baron Berners, Froissart's Chronicles, translation of original by Jean Froissart

verb

1. (transitive, poetic) To cover with, or as if with, pollen.