Abstract
A morphometric approach proved useful for characterizing pollen from the Ambrosia species that are responsible for most ragweed hayfever and for correctly identifying individual pollen grains. Pollen was harvested from 4 species (A. trifida, A. artemisiifolia, A. bidentata, A. psilostachya) grown in Champaign County, Illinois, and observed with a scanning electron microscope. Quantitative measurements of 6 different exine characters were made on micrographs of 96 pollen grains from each species. Discriminant analysis based on these characters was used to obtain a population centroid for each species and indicated that these centroids were distinctly different. This analysis also included a species classification for individual pollen grains and indicated probability of species membership. About 86% of all individuals were correctly classified when the 4 species were included, with a range from 80% (A. artemisiifolia) to 95% (A. psilostachya). When three species (A. trifida, A. artemisiifolia, A. bidentata) were analyzed, about 87% of the individuals were correctly classified, and almost all individuals (97%) were classified correctly when only A. trifida and A. artemisiifolia were included. The validity of the derived discriminant functions was also tested by treating herbarium specimens as unknowns. The species and percentages of these individuals correctly classified were A. trifida (100%), A. artemisiifolia (58%), A. bidentata (100%), and A. psilostachya (31%). The classification results using three species were A. trifida (100%), A. artemisiifolia (75%), and A. bidentata (100%); and using two species were A. trifida (100%) and A. artemisiifolia (92%). Hence, the disciminant functions do seem valid for 3 species, but further investigation of A. psilostachya is needed. This type of approach may be useful in pollen analysis, especially where these species significantly contributed to aeroallergens.
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