Pollen morphology of the genus Paralychnophora (Vernonieae–Asteraceae)

Abstract

Paralychnophora is an exclusively Brazilian genus that has few species and a confusing taxonomy. The current study aims to help us better understand this genus by analysing pollen grains from six Paralychnophora species. The pollen grains were acetolysed, analysed and photomicrographed under light microscopy. They were not acetolysed for the scanning electron microscopy analysis. Features such as shape, size, exine constitution and aperture were investigated. The species were separated in a pollen key, and their features were of great diagnostic value for the genus. The ornamentation pattern allowed separating P. patriciana from P. reflexoauriculata, and it grouped the other taxa. P. atkinsiae distinguished itself by the polar area index (PAI) size. P. bicolor, P. harley and P. glaziouana were easily separated from each other when other features such as size, shape, distance between the spines and aperture dimensions were analysed together.

Keywords:

• Brazilian Central Plateau
• lychnophorineae
• morphology
• Paralychnophora
• palynology

Acknowledgements

We thank the Laboratório de Ultraestrutura Celular of the Instituto de Biofísica at the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ); Noêmia R. Gonçalves for her technical assistance with the SEM; the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) and Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ) for financial support of this study; and CNPq and Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa e Tecnologia (CNPq) and Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) for the fellowship awarded to the authors.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Raquel Maria Batista Souza-Souza

RAQUEL MARIA BATISTA SOUZA DE SOUZA graduated with a BSc in Biological Sciences from Castelo Branco University, Brazil and has a MSc in Botany from Universidade Estadualdo Rio de Janeiro (UERJ). She is studying for a PhD in Botany at the Museu National at UFRJ. Raquel specialises on the palynology and taxonomy of the Asteraceae.

Benoît Loeuille

BENOIT LOEUILLE has a BSc in Pharmaceutical and Biological Sciences from the Université Lille 2 in France, awarded in 2004. He also holds an MSc in Biodiversity and Evolution from the Université Paris VI (2004), and a PhD from the Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil (2011). Benoit focuses on the systematics and phylogeny of the Vernonieae (Asteraceae).

Claudia Barbieri Ferreira Mendonça

ROBERTO LOURENÇO ESTEVES is a Professor in the Department of Plant Biology of the Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UERJ), Brazil. He received BSc in Botany from the Universidade do Estado da Guanabara in 1976. Roberto also holds an MSc in Botany from the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Museu National (1993), and a PhD on the systematics of the Eupatorieae, Asteraceae from the Universidade de Campinas, São Paulo (2001). His research is currently focused on the systematics and palynology of Brazilian species of the Asteraceae.

Roberto Lourenço Esteves

CLAUDIA BARBIERI FERREIRA MENDONÇA is a Professor in the Department of Botany of the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Museu National, Brazil. She received BSc, MSc and PhD degrees, all in Botany, from the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Museu Nacional, Brazil between 1999 and 2006. Claudia's research is on the palynology of the modern floras of several Brazilian ecosystems.

Vania Gonçalves-Esteves

VANIA GONÇALVES LOURENÇO ESTEVES is a research fellow at the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, and an Associate Professor in the Department of Botany of the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Museu National, Brazil. She received a BSc in Botany from the Universidade do Estado da Guanabara in 1974. Vania also has an MSc from the latter institution (1981), and a PhD from the Universidade de São Paulo (1994). Her research is on the palynology of the modern floras of several Brazilian ecosystems.