Studies on pollen morphology of Ipomoea species (Convolvulaceae)

Abstract

Pollen morphology of four species of Ipomoea viz., Ipomoea fistulosa (Mart. exChoisy), I. palmata Forssk, I. quamoclit L. and I. triloba L. (Convolvulaceae) from Sant Gadge Baba Amravati University Campus have been examined by Light and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). Pollen grains are usually pantoporate, radially symmetrical ,circular in outline, tectum echinate, circular aperture between the spine, suboblate-oblate spheroidal or spheroidal. Among the four species of Ipomoea maximum pollen size(97.39-100.86μm) across was found in I. quamoclit whereas, minimum pollen size (59.17-65.75 μm) across was noted in I. palmata. The maximum spine length (8-14μm) was recorded in I. palmata, while it was minimum (4.99-7.33μm) in I. triloba. Considering pore size all four species of Ipomoea showed close similarities with minor differences. Sculpturing pattern was found to be uniform in all studied species of Ipomoea