Geitonic

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Describing pollination in which pollen travels from one flower to another flower on the same plant
2. Of or relating to the transfer of pollen between blossoms borne by a single individual plant
3. Characterizing the fertilization of a flower by pollen from a different bloom on the same plant

Etymology: "Geitonic" comes from the Greek "geitonikos," meaning "neighbourly," from "geitōn," a neighbour. Botanists chose it because pollen travels from one flower to another on the same plant, a sort of botanical neighbourly visit. It is a technical coinage built on an ancient Greek root, not a word that existed in classical times with this sense. The term sits in contrast with "xenogamy," fertilization by pollen from a different plant, and "autogamy," self-fertilization within a single flower. Geitonogamy is the related noun for the process itself, so the adjective describes the kind of pollination that the noun names.