Corn pollination

​Millions of pollen grains in a hybrid field, and yet only a small percentage land on the stigma of the female flower.  The sticky hairs on the silk assist in holding the pollen in place.  Attached pollen grain rehydrates from the moisture in the silk. A germ tube emerges through the pollen grain pore, invading the silk usually through the silk hair. It continues to be dependent upon silk moisture as the germ tube grows down the center of the silk, probably with the assistance of hormones to guide it.  A nucleus at the tip of the tube is active in providing the DNA codes for the growth, while two other nuclei are carried along the tube.  Although a few pollen grains may simultaneously be germinating on an individual silk, usually only one succeeds in progressing all the way. The silk begins to collapse as the winning pollen tube grows, shutting off water to later pollen grains- and to potential fungal invaders.  The winning pollen tube reaches the ovule in up to 24 hours, depending upon the distance from where it penetrates the silk.  Nutrition for pollen tube growth and metabolism is supplied by the silk.
 
After reaching the ovule, the other two haploid nuclei in the pollen tube are released into the cytoplasm of the ovule.  One nucleus migrates towards and joins the egg cell nucleus to form a diploid embryo. The other nucleus migrates to the cell that already has two haploid nuclei to form the triploid nucleus of the endosperm. 
 
The genetics of the next generation is set for this seed. Hopefully, the winning pollen grain was the one intended by the humans involved.