0 a cell connected with sexual reproduction, either a male sperm or a female egg --
1 a male or female cell that can unite with a cell of the opposite sex for the purpose of reproducing --
Pollen of an allied species which does not fuse with the female cell to make a gamete may, nevertheless, excite a female cell into division and the development of a tree.
It is now quite commonly believed that this predisposition arises from the quantity rather than the quality or kind of factors in the chemical impetus in the nuclei of the conjugating gametes.