Pollen morphology of Lecythidaceae in Southeast Asia

Abstract

The pollen morphology of four genera and 33 taxa of Lecythidaceae in Southeast Asia was investigated, including 26 taxa of Barringtonia , one taxon each of Careya and Chydenanthus , and five taxa of Planchonia to determine which, if any, taxonomically important characters were present and the implications they have for the systematics of the family. Acetolysed and unacetolysed pollen samples were investigated using light and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The pollen grains were found to be monads, radially symmetrical, isopolar, small to medium-sized, syntricolpate or syntricolporate, prolate spheroidal, oblate spheroidal, subprolate, suboblate or spherical in shape with marginal ridges. Marginal grooves and polar cushions are commonly present in most species. The polar ectoaperture may be open or sealed. The mesocolpial sculpturing is perforate-reticulate. The colpial surface is smooth, with sparsely or densely scattered verrucae-gemmae and with clavate to pilate elements scattered or aligned in longitudinal rows. The results indicated that pollen morphological characters can be used for identification and classification of some closely related species in the genus Barringtonia .