The Way Pollen Travels..

Many plants depend on the air to transport their pollen after it is released
from catkins or cones when they are jostled by the wind..

Water also serves to transport the pollen of some water plants..
Since wind pollination is a hit- and- miss affair, trees and plants that depend on this method of pollination produce astronomical quanitites of pollen..*

* Just one birch catkin, for example , may release over five million grains of pollen , and a typical birch tree will likely have several thousand catkins..*

For people who suffer from hayfever , this proliferation of pollen results in great discomfort..

Although wind effectively helps to pollinate many types of trees and grasses,
flowering plants that do not grow in high densities need a more efficient system..

How is the pollen from such plants dispacted to other like plants that live five miles away ?

By a very effective delivery service provided by bats, birds, and insects !
But , of course , they don't transport pollen from one flower to the another
without a reward...