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Micro World

How small is a pine pollen grain?

A pine pollen grain is about 70 µm wide.

What is measured: winged conifer pollen grain, width

Pine Pollen Grain (70 µm) drawn to scale beside a human hair (70 µm) and a human egg cell (115 µm)
Drawn to scale, from left to right: Pine Pollen Grain (70 µm), Human hair (70 µm) and Human egg cell (115 µm).

Compare

How big is that, really?

  • About the same width as a human hair
  • About 61% of the width of a human egg cell
  • As wide as about 3 cloud droplets side by side
  • About 7 would fit across a grain of sand
  • As wide as about 9 red blood cells side by side

Learn

Facts about Pine Pollen Grain

Pine pollen grains have two air-filled sacs that act like tiny balloons, helping them travel long distances on the wind.

Source: Palynology databases, PalDat; USDA Forest Service

Micro World

NameSizeCompared with Pine Pollen Grain
Dandelion Pollen Grain35 µm0.5×
Tetrahymena thermophila50 µm0.71×
Ascaris lumbricoides Egg60 µm0.86×
Human Cheek Epithelial Cell60 µm0.86×
Pine Pollen Grain70 µmthis page
Human Adipocyte100 µm1.4×
Euplotes100 µm1.4×
Human Cardiomyocyte100 µm1.4×
Human Smooth Muscle Cell100 µm1.4×
Onion Epidermal Cell100 µm1.4×

Test your sense of scale

Which is bigger: Pine Pollen Grain or Tetrahymena thermophila?

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