Pollen morphology of some species ofVernonanthura(Asteraceae, Vernonieae) from southern South America
- 23 May 2011
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Informa UK Limited in Palynology
- Vol. 35 (1), 94-102
- https://doi.org/10.1080/01916122.2010.549290
Abstract
Pollen grains from 16 species of Vernonanthura H. Rob. were studied. All the species exhibit the type ‘A’ pollen characteristic of the genus. These grains are spheroidal to prolate–spheroidal, subechinolophate, tricolporate, with a continuous tectum which is densely microperforate, exhibiting lophae surrounding irregular depressions and having prominent spines. Despite most of the species having a similar pollen type, some taxa can be recognised by the morphology of the spines. According to the spine index (length/width), the species analysed can be divided into three groups having respectively short, medium and long spines. In addition to the size of the spines, some taxa can be distinguished by spine shape. Vernonanthura pinguis (Griseb.) H. Rob. has spines which are constricted at the base, while V. oligactoides (Less.) H. Rob. exhibits small conical spines. Vernonanthura nudiflora (Less.) H. Rob. and V. schulziana (Cabrera) H. Rob. have spines with rounded apices. This study confirms that Vernonanthura is a well-defined group based on pollen characteristics and that pollen morphology is a significant feature in the characterisation of species and genera of Vernonieae.Keywords
This publication has 16 references indexed in Scilit:
- Pollen morphology of the South American genus Lessingianthus (Vernonieae, Asteraceae) and its taxonomic implicationsGrana, 2010
- Palynotaxonomy of Vernonanthura H. Rob. (Vernonieae, Asteraceae) species from Southeast BrazilRevista Brasileira de Botânica, 2009
- Caryological analysis of South American species ofVernonia(Vernonieae, Asteraceae)Plant Biosystems - An International Journal Dealing with all Aspects of Plant Biology, 2009
- Pollen morphology of some species ofVernonia s. l.(Vernonieae, Asteraceae) from Argentina and ParaguayGrana, 2008
- Vernonanthura warmingiana (Asteraceae: Vernonieae), a new species from BrazilBrittonia, 2006
- Cytotaxonomic analysis of South American species of Vernonia (Vernonieae: Asteraceae)Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2002
- A new genus Vernonanthura (Vernonieae, Asteraceae)Phytologia., 1992
- The identification and taxonomic significance of lophate pollen in the CompositaeCanadian Journal of Botany, 1986
- Distribution of Pollen Types in Vernonia (Vernonieae: Compositae)Systematic Botany, 1979
- A Study of the Pollen Morphology of Tropical African and Certain Other Vernonieae (Compositae)Kew Bulletin, 1976