Pollen-free sunflowers can produce seeds, but the resulting seeds will not come true to the mother plant. This means that the offspring will not possess the same traits as the pollen-free sunflower. Let me explain this in more detail.
Pollen-free sunflowers are bred to produce little to no pollen. This is beneficial for individuals who may be allergic to pollen or for those who simply want to enjoy sunflowers without dealing with the mess of pollen. However, it’s important to note that sunflowers are typically pollinated by bees and other insects, which transfer pollen from the male reproductive organs (anthers) to the female reproductive organs (stigma) of the flower. Pollen contains the male genetic material necessary for fertilization.
In the case of pollen-free sunflowers, since they produce little to no pollen, there may be limited or no self-pollination occurring within the flower itself. This means that for seed production to occur, there needs to be a nearby source of pollen from other sunflowers that produce pollen.
If there are pollen-producing sunflowers planted nearby, the bees and other pollinators can still transfer the pollen to the stigma of the pollen-free sunflower. This allows for fertilization to occur and the formation of seeds. However, since the pollen-free sunflower itself does not produce its own pollen, the genetic material that fertilizes the flower will come from the pollen-producing sunflowers nearby.
As a result, the seeds produced by the pollen-free sunflower will contain a mix of genetic material from both the pollen-free sunflower and the pollen-producing sunflowers. This means that the characteristics of the offspring will be a combination of traits from both parent plants. In other words, the resulting sunflowers will not be identical to the pollen-free sunflower that produced the seeds.
It’s important to keep this in mind if you are specifically interested in growing more pollen-free sunflowers. To obtain true-to-type offspring, it would be necessary to propagate the pollen-free sunflowers vegetatively, such as through cloning or tissue culture, rather than relying on seed production.
Pollen-free sunflowers can produce seeds if there are nearby pollen-producing sunflowers for cross-pollination. However, the resulting seeds will not come true to the pollen-free sunflower, as they will contain a mix of genetic material from both parent plants.