TurkJBot 25(2001)385-388 ©TÜB‹TAK ResearchArticle PollenFloraofPakistan-XXVII Nyctaginaceae AnjumPERVEEN,MohammadQAISER DepartmentofBotany,UniversityofKarachi,Karachi-PAKISTAN Received:22.07.1999 Accepted:20.04.2001 Abstract: Thepollenmorphologyofeightspeciesbelongingtotwogenera,i.e., Boerhavia L.,and Commicarpus Standley,ofthe familyNyctaginaceae,wasstudiedbylightmicroscope andscanningmicroscope.Thefamilyhasuniformpollencharacters.Pollen grainsmostlyspheroidal,pantoporate,±circular,poressmallorlarge,non-operculate,poreplate±scabrate-spinulose.Tectu m tubuliferousspinulose. KeyWords: Nyctaginaceae,PollenmorphologyandPakistanFlora Introduction unstainedglycerinejellyandobservationsweremade withaNikonType-2microscope,under(E40,0.65)and Nyctaginaceae isafamilyof30generaandc.290 oilimmersion(E100,1.25),using10xeyepiece.ForSEM species,distributedinthetropicalandsubtropicalpartsof studies,pollengrainsweresuspendedinadropofwater bothhemispheres,especiallyinAmerica(Willis,1973; anddirectlytransferredwithafinepipettetoametallic Mabberely,1987). stubusingdouble-sidedadhesivetapeandcoatedwith ItisrepresentedinPakistanbyfivegeneraandc.11 goldinasputteringchamber(Ion-sputterJFC-1100). species(Nasir,1974). Coatingwasrestrictedto150A.TheSEMexamination Nowicke(1975)examinedthepollenmorphologyof wascarriedoutonaJeolmicroscopeJSM-T200.The thetribeMirabileae.NowickeandSkvarala(1977,1979) measurementswerebasedon15-20readingsfromeach andSkvarala(1976),whilestudingthepollenofthe specimen.Pollendiameter,porediameterandexine orderCentrospermae alsostudiedsomemembersofthe thicknessweremeasured. family Nyctaginaceae.Kannabiran(1973)examinedthe Theterminologyofpollengrainsmainlyfollowsthat pollenmorphologyofBoerhavia punarnava Saha&Krish. ofErdtman(1952),FaegriandIversen(1964),Kremp Pollengrainsofthefamily Nyctaginaceae havealso (1965), MooreandWebb(1978)and WalkerandDoyle beenstudiedbyErdtman(1952),Buxbaum(1961), (1976). Behnke(1969),Sahay(1969),Rao&Leong(1974), MooreandWebb(1978)andQaiserandPerveen(1997). Observations Generalpollencharactersofthefamily MaterialsandMethods Nyctaginaceae Thisstudyisbasedonpolliniferousmaterialofeight Pollengrainsradiallysymmetrical,apolar,spheroidal, species obtainedfromKarachiUniversityHerbarium pantoporate,sexinethickerorthinnerthannexine. (KUH)orcollectedfromthefield.Thelistofvoucher Tectumtubuliferousandspinulose. specimensisdepositedinKUH. Thepollengrainswere Speciesincluded: Boerhavia diffusa L., Boerhavia preparedforlight(LM)andscanningmicroscopy(SEM) procumbens BanksexRoxb., Boerhavia repens L., bythestandardmethodsdescribedbyErdtman(1952). Boerhavia rubicunda Steud., Commicarpus helenae Forlightmicroscopy,thepollengrainsweremountedin (Roem.&Schultes)Meikle, Commicarpus boissieri 385 PollenFloraofPakistan-XXVII Nyctaginaceae (Heimerl)Cufod., Commicarpus stenocarpus (Chiov.) spinulose,spinules(0.35-)2.07±0.27(-3.231)µm Cufod. long. Boerhaviadiffusa L. Commicarpushelenae (Roem.&Schultes)Meikle (Figs.1H&I). Size:(50-)56.44±0.79(-62.5)µmindiameter. Spheroidal,pantoporate,pore±circular,(2.5-)5.02 Size:(50-)56.6±0.90(-60)µmindiameter. ±0.31(-7.5)µmindiameter,poreplatespinulose.Exine Spheroidal,pantoporate,pore±circular,(2.5-)4.37 (4.25-)5.0±0.04(-5.25)µmthick,sexinethickerthan ±0.21(-5.1)µmindiameter.Exine(3.75-)4.90±0.09 nexine.Tectumtubuliferousandspinulose,spinules2.22- (-5.01)µmthick,sexinethickerthannexine.Tectum 3.33µmlong. tubuliferousandspinulosespinules1.11-2.22µmlong. BoerhaviaprocumbensBanksexRoxb.(Figs.1A& Commicarpusstenocarpus (Chiov.)Cufod. B). Size:(65-)67.91±1.62(-75)µmindiameter. Size:(53.85-)67.65±2.23(-75.39)µmin Spheroidal,pantoporate,pore±circular,porec.5µm diameter. indiameter.Exinec.5µmthick,sexinethickerthan Oblate-spheroidal,pantoporate,Pores6-10,± nexine.Tectumtubuliferousandspinulose,spinules0.23- circular,sunken,(3.23-)3.64±0.07(-3.94)µmin 2.14µmlong. diameter. Poreplategranulatewith1-2spinules.Exine (2.87-)6.71±0.43(-7.53)µmthick,sexinethinner thannexine.Tectumtubuliferousandspinulose,spinules Discussion (1.79-)2.33±0.17(-3.23)µmlong. Thepollenmorphologyofthefamily Nyctaginaceae is Boerhaviarubicunda Steud.(Fig.1C). ±homogenousinnature(Erdtman,1952).Allthe examinedspecieshavesimilarpollencharacters.Pollen Size:(42.5-)49.39±1.13(-55)µmindiameter. grainsgenerallyspheroidal,pantopo-ratewith Oblate-spheroidal,pantoporate,pore±circular,6.3 tubuliferous-spinulosetectum(NowickeandSkvarla, µmindiameter.Exine(2.75-)4.67±0.32(-5)µmthick, 1977,1979).Heimerl(1934)dividedthefamily sexinethinnerthannexine.Tectumtubuliferousand Nyctaginaceae intofivetribes,viz.,Nyctagineae spinulose,spinules1.15-2.31µmlong. (Mirabileae), Pisonieae,Colignonieae,Boldoeae and Boerhaviarepens L.(Fig.1D). Leucastereae.Thepresentspeciesbelongtothetribe Nyctaginiae:subtribe Nyctagineae.Nowicke(1975) Size:(61.03-)84.50±5.05(-100.5)µm. reportedasimilartypeofpolleninthesubtribe Oblate-spheroidal,pantoporate,pores(7-10),± Nyctagineae.However,shealsoreportedpantocolpate circular,sunken,(3.23-)3.59±0.14(-3.94)µmin andtricolpatepolleninthesubtribe Abroniinae andsub- diameter.Poreplatewithroughedbase.Exine(3.59-) tribe Bougainvilleinae ofthetribe Nyctaginiae, 5.83±0.85(-7.18)µmthick,sexinethinnerthannexine. respectively.Itisdifficulttoconstructthekeytothe Tectumtubuliferousandspinulose,spinules(3.23-)3.47 speciesbecauseoftheoverlappingofthecharacters. ±0.11(-3.59)µmlong. However,thepresentpalynologicaldatafavours Commicarpusboissieri(Heimerl)Cufod.(Figs.1E, Heimerl’s(1934)tribalclassification. F&G). Size:(53.76-)59.05±0.77(-63.84)µmin Acknowledgements diameter. WearegratefultotheNationalScientificResearch Oblate-spheroidal,pantoporate,pores 6-8,circular, DevelopmentBoard(NSRDB),UniversityGrants sunken(3.94-)4.42±0.47(-5.38)µmindiameter. Commission,Pakistan,forprovidingfinancialsupport. Poreplategranulatedspinulose,with0-1µmlong WearealsogratefultotheDirectoroftheBiological spinules.Exine(3.59-)3.66±0.04(-3.74)µmthick. ResearchCentreforprovidingthescanningelectron Sexineasthickasnexine.Tectumtubuliferousand microscopefacilities. 386 A.PERVEEN,M.QAISER Fig.1. A-C;F-I:ScanningElectronD&F:Lightmicrographsofpollengrains.Boerhavia procumbens:A,Pollengrain;B,Exinepattern.Boerhavia rubicunda:C,Pollengrain.Boerhavia repens:D,Pollengrain.Commicarpus boissieri:E&F,Pollengrain;G,Exinepattern,Commicarpus helenae:H,Pollengrain;I,Exinepattern. Scalebar=A-F&I=10;H=1µm. References BehnheHD(1969).UberSiebrohren-Plastidfilamntder Carypohyllales. HeimerlA(1934). 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