Tradescantia pollen grains. Coloured scanning electron micrograph (SEM). This member of the spiderwort family is also known by the common name of wandering jew. Pollen grains are the male sex cells of a flowering plant. Their characteristic surface is used by botanists to recognise and classify plants. Pollen in plants is used for transferring male genetic material from the anther of a single flower to the stigma of another in cross-pollination. In a case of self-pollination, this process takes place from the anther of a flower to the stigma of the same flower. Magnification x 2000 at 10cm wide.