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Abstract
Structures that receive sporopollenin are similar in the pollen grains of a wide variety of angiosperms and in the conifer Pinus. These structures are rod-shaped, with a central core that accepts stains strongly and an outer binder zone that only weakly accepts stains. These sporopollenin-accumulating rods are substructures of the exine units we call “tufts”. In many taxa tuft substructures are covered by receptor-independent (extra-tuft) accumulated sporopollenin and surfaces are smooth. We show an example (Quercus coccifera) of the acetolysis resistance of extra-tuft accumulated sporopollenin followed by its removal through oxidation which reveals the tufts.
