[1] The novel deals with botanical research into potentially intelligent, sexually voracious species of plants native to a newly discovered extrasolar planet.

Lester del Rey praised Boyd for "rather sharp characterization and a much higher level of writing", but declared the novel a failure due to radical shifts at the conclusion, saying "The final twenty-two pages simply grind along somehow to an ending that means nothing emotionally.

"[2] M. John Harrison (writing as "Joyce Churchill") panned Pollinators as "a feebler look at The Ring of Ritornel, replacing Harness's fast baroque attack with textbook botany and his joie de vivre with trite sexual observation and natty dialogue".

[4] P. Schuyler Miller, however, reviewed the novel positively, comparing it favorably to Philip Jose Farmer's work, saying "This book would be a treat for its picture of intra- and interagency intrigue alone.

"[5] Revisiting the novel on its 1978 reissue, Gerald Jonas wrote in The New York Times that "[A]ll is right along the way as well, thanks to Mr. Boyd's stylistic control and his knack for making even the most far-fetched plot device seem like a logical outgrowth of what has come before".