Anemophily is an abiotic means of pollination by wind and being non-directional, a wasteful process as the pollen would reach the stigma through wind is a hit-or-miss affair. During the transit of pollen through wind, a considerable amount of pollen is lost because it never reaches a proper stigma. To stand this loss, anemophilous plants have to produce enormous quantities of pollen.

Anemophily is also associated with reduction in the number of ovules per ovary. Some models predict that plants benefit from numerous inexpensive flowers distributed throughout the inflorescence, each with a single ovule or a few ovules. In grasses there is just one ovule per ovary. This is to increase the probability of successful pollination of each ovule.