this post was submitted on 30 Nov 2025
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Science Memes

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[–] TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world 26 points 4 months ago (2 children)

When you trying to explain how seeds aren't analogs of eggs, and how pollen isn't even analog of sperm

[–] ryannathans@aussie.zone 24 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Pollen is often described in everyday language as plant sperm, but this is not accurate! Pollen is not sperm (a gamete); pollen is the male gametophyte: a multicellular, haploid organism that produces the sperm.

Pollen is the balls! We're inhaling plant balls

https://organismalbio.biosci.gatech.edu/growth-and-reproduction/plant-reproduction/

[–] TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world 32 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (3 children)

Pollen is the balls! We’re inhaling plant balls

Not even that.. really. Your balls or ova are still "yours" as in your genetic material.

So we have gametes, unicellular haploid phases. But plants have gametophytes, and evolved from the gametophytic phase being the "dominant plant body" stage.

So.. in analogy, in plant evolutionary history, the "big obvious plant part" literally was the sperm, and still is in bryophytes, chlorphytes, and some rhodophytes. So mosses are still this way. The big flip happened when vascular plants branched off, with the development of tracheids and plasmodesma.

So its more like.. if we're going to do metaphor imagine each "sperm" or egg being the big multicellular part we would all recognize as the "plant" and the tiny, microscopic bit, being the diploid part, would be us. So like, if there were an equivalent, it would be like if when you cum, the eggs or sperm grow up into their whole totally different looking person, which we might call a 'cum gremlin'. This 'cum gremlin' then finds another 'cum gremlin' to have sex with. Then these cum gremlins get together to have one of you, but you are like a tiny version of yourself.

[–] ryannathans@aussie.zone 10 points 4 months ago

Cum gremlins

[–] AI_toothbrush@lemmy.zip 6 points 4 months ago

This whole thread is lemmy gold

[–] ayyy@sh.itjust.works 3 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)
[–] Thedogdrinkscoffee@lemmy.ca 15 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I wish someone told me that before I jizzed all over my garden. The ants are everywhere!

[–] TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world 22 points 4 months ago (1 children)
[–] Thedogdrinkscoffee@lemmy.ca 2 points 4 months ago

Obviously, duh! And what insect, pray tell are your little soldiers made of? Weevils? Mantises? Bees?

[–] birdwing@lemmy.blahaj.zone 13 points 4 months ago (2 children)
[–] FoxyFerengi@startrek.website 9 points 4 months ago

Are you the weirdo checking the undersides of fern leaves for sporangia? (/j that weirdo might be me)