Pollen. Coloured scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of pollen grains emerging from the stamen of an azalea flower (Rhododendron sp.). Pollen grains contain a plant's male gametes. When they come into contact with an ovule (female gamete) of a plant from the same species, they fertilise it, producing a seed. The ovule can belong to the same plant (self-pollination) or the pollen can be blown or carried by an insect to a different plant (cross-pollination).