Pollen morphology of selected species from Annonaceae

Abstract

The morphology of the pollen grains of 18 species representing nine genera of Annonaceae from China is described and illustrated based on observations from scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The pollen grains are small, medium-sized, large or very large, elliptic, spherical or subspherical in monads (Artabotrys, Fissistigma, Miliusa, Trivalvaria, Uvaria and most Polyalthia), tetrads (Annona, Goniothalamus, Mitrephora and Polyalthia rumphii) or octads (Disepalum). Tetragonal, tetrahedral or rhomboidal tetrads were observed in Polyalthia rumphii. Ornamentation is psilate, foveolate, perforate, rugulate, reticulate or verrucate. Most species have no visible aperture, while Miliusa balansae, Polyalthia cerasoides, Polyalthia laui, Polyalthia oblique and Trivalvaria costata have one sulcus or 1–3 pores on proximal side or globally distributed. Disepalum lagioneurum (former Polyalthia lagioneurum) bearing octads confirms its isolation from Polyalthia, which so far has been observed monad. While the isolation of Trivalvaria costata (former Polyalthia nemoralis) from Polyalthia was not supported for the similarities of pollen characters.