The anatomical, palynological and micromorphological aspects of three endemic Bellevalia species (Asparagaceae) in Turkey and their taxonomic importance

In the present research, anatomical, palynological and micromorphological characteristics of three endemic Bellevalia species (B. gracilis, B. malatyaensis and B. vuralii) for Turkey are carried out. This work reveals the descriptive characteristics of the examined species, and contribute to solving taxonomic problems. Anatomical studies were carried out on cross sections of root, scape and leaf. The metaxylem, the number of root cortex cells, and the number of cortex and sclerenchyma cells in the scape were found to be significant in terms of taxonomy. Pollen grains of all the examined species were monosulcate and heteropolar. In addition, seed and pollen surface ornamentation were photographed under SEM microscopy, which SEM micrographs showed that the exine sculpturing pattern is reticulate-perforate, and pollen muri walls of were different among the examined species. Conversely, seeds showed a general similarity of the surface among the studied species, all showing a reticulate faveolate ornamentation.

Pollen morphology of Indian Aponogeton (Aponogetonaceae, Alismatales) and the problem of recognizing palynotypes in a taxonomically diverse and ancient genus

Monogeneric Aponogetonaceae is sister to the rest of tepaloid core Alismatales and its members are characterized by a number of plesiomorphic features including monosulcate pollen. A recent study documented the earliest fossil pollen records of Aponogeton in late Cretaceous and early Cenozoic as well as recognized six pollen types in the genus. However, there are remaining gaps in palynological investivation of Aponogeton species. We present data on eight Indian species of the genus. Pollen of Aponogeton appendiculatus, A. crispus, A. bruggenii, A. microphyllus, A. natans, A. nateshii and A. wolfgangianus is reticulate with quite small lumina of irregular shape with short, convex and wide muri bearing small (up to 0.5 μm) echini. Pollen of Aponogeton satarensis clearly differs from that of the rest of examined species in larger lumina and muri bearing large (0.8–1 μm) and wide conical echini. These palynological differences fit well with molecular phylogenetic data and earlier ideas based on gross morphology. Our data suggest that although exine sculpturing is taxonomically significant in Aponogeton, the use of size of echini as a character distinguishing some palynotypes is problematic. Quantitative characters such as equatorial diameter and polar axis length showed no clear differences between examined species, but differences were found between analyzed samples (more precise, individuals) of the same species. Our new data support the earlier conclusion on the homoplastic nature of pollen evolution in Aponogeton.

Pollen morphological traits analysis of eighteen 'Nepeta' species in Iran

Nepeta is one of the largest genera of Lamiaceae, which is widely distributed in Iran. Several species of the genus are traditionally used as culinary, industrial, and medicinal plants. In the present study, we examined fourteen qualitative and quantitative pollen morphological characters of twenty-four populations of eighteen Nepeta using light and scanning electron microscope. The pollen grains are radially symmetric, isopolar, and hexacolpate in all species. We have found that the quantitative features vary among the studied taxa. According to PCA analysis, the colpus length and width are the most variable traits. Polar view shapes in all the studied taxa are circular, while the equatorial view is prolate-spheroidal, subprolate, perprolate, and prolate. We determined microreticulate and bireticulate exine sculpturing, and the bireticulate type was dominant. We revealed that polar and equatorial axes length of pollen grains varied between populations of the same species, and they, therefore, should be ignored in taxonomical identification of species. The polar view was similar in all the studied pollen grains and could not be considered as a diagnostic trait. The equatorial shape was stable between populations of the same species, and this was taxonomically important, while we registered some infraspecific variations in exine sculpture. Our cluster of taxa based on the pollen morphology is not in concordance with the traditional sectional classification of the genus.

Contribution to the knowledge of the pollen morphology of the genus Salvia (Lamiaceae)

The pollen grains of 19 Turkish Salvia species in Aethiopis, Drymosphace, Hemisphace, Hymenosphace and Salvia sections, 13 of which are endemic to Turkey, were investigated, documented and illustrated through Light Microscopy (LM) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). This study provides pollen data of 14 species for the first time. The pollen grains of the species examined are monads, isopolar, radially symmetrical and hexacolpate, mostly medium in size, slightly elliptic to more or less circular in polar view and mainly oblate-spheroidal in equatorial view. Two different ornamentation types are recognized on exine sculpturing; reticulate-perforate and bireticulate. The present results do not generally support the traditional infrageneric classification of Salvia, but provide useful pollen characters for species delimitation.

Embriología de Erythroxylum havanense Jacq. (Erythroxylaceae)

We studied the development of reproductive structures in pin and thrum morphs of Erythroxylum havanense. The young anther wall consists of an epidermis, endothecium , 1-3 middle layers anda binucleate secretory tapetum. The mature anther wall has only two layers: epidermis and endothecium. Microspore tetrads are tetrahedral or isobilateral. Mature pollen grains are tricolporate, bicellular and contain starch grains. Exine sculpturing is verrugate in thrum pollen and reticulate in pin pollen. The ovule is sessile, pendulous, anatropous, bitegmic and crassinucellate. The embryo sac is heptacellular. An endothelium is differentiated. The endosperm development is nuclear, and the basal part of the nucellus persists during early endosperm development. Both integuments form the seed coat.

Morphology, Anatomy and Palynology of Turkish endemic species Haplophyllum myrtifolium, H. vulcanicum & H. megalanthum (Rutaceae) and their systematics implications

Haplophyllum is one of the taxonomically difficult genera in the Rutaceae. Three Turkish endemic species of Haplophyllum, namely Haplophyllum myrtifolium, H. vulcanicum and H. megalanthum, have similar morphological features, therefore identification of the species are extremely difficult. In the present study, morphological, anatomical and palynological characteristics of the species are examined in order to understand the usefulness of these characteristics for systematics purposes. Morphological characteristics of leaves and corollas, absence/or presence of glandular hairs on the stem and inflorescence, expansion form of filaments and ovarium appendage are useful for specific delimitation among the species. Anatomical characters such as number of cortex layers and sclerenchymatic cell layers in stem, size of the vascular bundle in the midrib provide information of taxonomical significance. In addition, exine sculpturing pattern of pollen grains can be used for taxonomic purposes.

Pollen morphology of four endemic species of Pedicularis L. from alpine zone of the Deosai Plateau, Himalayan range

The pollen morphology with special reference to exine sculpturing of four species of the genus Pedicularis L. has been examined by light and scanning electron microscope. Comparative pollen analysis was made based on the type of pollen, shape in polar and equatorial views, P/E ratio, exine thickness and sculpturing of pollen. In this study, two types of pollen aperture configuration known in the genus were observed i.e., trisyncolpate and bi-syncolpate. Pollen grains with microscabrate ornamentation were found in bi-syncolpate pollen for the first time. Pollen fertility estimation ranged from 87-95%, which shows that pollen flora of selected species is well established in Alpine zone.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bjpt.v19i1.10935Bangladesh J. Plant Taxon. 19(1): 1-5, 2012 (June)

Investigation on the pollen morphology of traditional cultivars of Prunus species in Sicily

In this study pollen grains of 13 cultivars and 3 rootstocks belonging to 5 species (<em>P. armeniaca</em>, <em>P. domestica</em>, <em>P. dulcis</em>, <em>P. persica</em>, <em>P. avium</em>) of the genus <em>Prunus </em>collected from North-East Sicily were examined for the micromorphological characterization through the scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The length of polar axis (<em>P</em>) and the equatorial diameter (<em>E</em>) of grain, <em>P/E </em>ratio, the length of colpi (<em>C</em>), diameter of perforations (<em>DP</em>) and the number of perforations in 25 μm² (<em>PN</em>), the width of muri (<em>WM</em>), the distance between muri (<em>DM</em>) and their number in 25 μm² (<em>MN</em>), the width of grooves (<em>WG</em>) were measured and their variation was compared among studied taxa. Moreover multivariate statistical analysis was carried out to distinguish morphometric information from measured parameters. All pollen grains are trizonocolpate, isopolar, medium-large sized and their shape varies from prolate to perprolate. Regarding outline pollen grains are subtriangular in polar view and elliptic in equatorial view. Exine sculpturing is striate with perforations on grain surface. The arrangement of ridges appears roughly parallel but too sloped (sometimes curved) compared to polar axis, or branched and oriented in different directions, or perfectly parallel or more irregular with bifurcated ridges often sinuous. The analyses showed a great variability (particularly in <em>P. domestica </em>cultivars) related in some cases to the diversity in the morphological features of the leaves and the fruits of the investigated entities.

Pollen morphology of Polish native species of the Rosa genus (Rosaceae) and its relation to systematics

The morphology of pollen grains of 16 species from the <em>Rosa </em>L. genus were studied (i.e. <em>R. agrestis</em>, <em>R. canina</em>, <em>R. dumalis</em>, <em>R. gallica</em>, <em>R. inodora</em>, <em>R. jundzillii</em>, <em>R. kostrakiewiczii</em>, <em>R. majalis</em>, <em>R. micrantha</em>, <em>R. mollis</em>, <em>R. pendulina</em>, <em>R. rubiginosa</em>, <em>R. sherardii</em>, <em>R. tomentosa</em>, <em>R. villosa</em>, and <em>R. zalana</em>). The material came from 16 native localities of those species in Poland. The measurements are based on at least 30-50 randomly selected, fully developed pollen grains per specimen. In total, 500 pollen grains were examined. They were analysed for 13 quantitative features of pollen grains and exine sculpturing and the following qualitative traits: outline, shape, "operculum" structure. The diagnostic features of pollen grains of studied species were: length of polar and equatorial axes and length of ectocolpi. The above-mentioned pollen grain morphological features make isolation of one species possible: <em>R. gallica</em>. <em>R. gallica </em>is distinguished for its highest values of the length of polar and equatorial axes, and the length of ectocolpi. The obtained analytical results of operculum and exine sculpture features, considered as diagnostic, corroborated only slightly their priority significance for the isolation of the examined species and sections. The collected data failed to confirm fully the current taxonomical division of the <em>Rosa </em>genus into sections (only section <em>Gallicanae</em> from <em>R. gallica </em>is isolated) as well as consanguinity relationships between the examined species from the <em>Caninae </em>section. On the dendrogram, both species closely related with each other as well as those from other developmental lines were found in the same group. These equivocal results are by no means surprising because the <em>Caninae </em>section is the most polymorphic group in the <em>Rosa </em>genus, and contemporary <em>Caninae </em>are of the nature of a swarm of <em>R. canina </em>hybrids as a link combining all taxons of the section.

Morphology, anatomy, palynology and nutlet micromorphology of Salvia macrochlamys (Labiatae) in Turkey

Salvia macrochlamys Boiss. & Kotschy, which belongs to sect. Salvia Hedge, is a perennial herb usually growing on rocky limestone slopes in eastern Anatolia. In this study, the anatomical features of the root, the stem, the leaf and the petiole, as well as micromorphological characteristics of the pollen and the nutlet of this species have been investigated using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Moreover, its emended and expanded description, phenology, current distribution and ecology are also given. Anatomical characters such as the number of ray lines in the root, the distance between vascular bundles in the stem, the structure of mesophyll in the leaf and the structure of vascular bundles in the petiole have been found to have taxonomic value. The pollen grains are hexacolpate, radially symmetrical, isopolar and oblate-spheroidal. Their exine sculpturing is bireticulate and perforate. The nutlets are rounded-trigonous in transverse sections, broadly ovate to rotund in shape, light brown, glabrous and slightly rough to protuberances. This species often grows in habitats in which the main soil type is sandy-clayish with low organic content (1.32 ± 1.06%) and slightly alkaline (pH 7.75 ± 0.25). The amount of CaCO3 is 0.94% to 34.91%. The contents of P and K are 8.68 ± 0.96 and 110.12 ± 4.86 ppm, respectively.