http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6265-151X
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ABSTRACT
Pollen morphology of 64 species and five varieties of the genus Stellaria L. was studied using scanning electron microscopy and compared with that of Myosoton Moench. Of these, 60 species and four varieties were reported for the first time. Pollen grains of genus Stellaria are spheroidal or spheroidal-polyhedral, pantoporate and 21.36–38.38 μm in size, and have 10–22 prominent or sunken apertures uniformly distributed on their surface. Granules are present on the opercules of all species except for S. uchiyamana. The surface ornamentation of Stellaria pollen grains is of the microechinate-perforate type, microechinate-punctate type or microechinate-punctate-perforate type. The exceptional morphological similarity of Stellaria and Myosoton supports the combination of the genus Myosoton with the genus Stellaria.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [under grant numbers 31270276 and 30470106].
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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
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Chengyu Wan
CHENGYU WAN graduated with a BSc in biological sciences from the College of Life Sciences of Henan Agricultural University. She is studying for an MSc in botany in the College of Life Sciences, Capital Normal University. She specialises in the palynology and taxonomy of the Caryophyllaceae.
Jiaxi Liu
JIAXI LIU is a professor in the College of Life Sciences, Capital Normal University, Beijing, China. He received his BSc and MSc in botany from Harbin Normal University, Heilongjiang, China, and his PhD in ecology from Northeast Forestry University, Heilongjiang, China. He researches the palynology and embryology of the modern floras of several Chinese ecosystems.
