Studies on the pollen morphology of Fritillaria (Liliaceae) taxa from Greece

Abstract

Pollen grains of 19 Fritillaria (Liliaceae) taxa and 2 hybrids from Greece were investigated by scanning electron microscopy. The majority of the taxa are studied for the first time and 13 of them are Greek endemic plants. All studied Fritillaria taxa had symmetrical, heteropolar and monosulcate grains, with prolate or perprolate shape. Eight types of exine sculpturing were observed: rugulate–reticulate, rugulate–perforate, psilate–perforate, perforate–reticulate, reticulate, reticulate–heterobrochate and psilate–reticulate. The sulcus always extends from distal to proximal and its apex is either round or sharp. The sulcus membrane is rugulate–granulate, psilate–granulate, gemmate or, as in most cases, verrucate. Our study provides new data on the pollen morphology of Fritillaria, ensures its inter- and intra-specific heterogeneity, and suggests that pollen morphological characters may contribute to the classification of Fritillaria taxa at species level.

Keywords:

• Palynology
• scanning electron microscopy
• biosystematics
• taxonomy
• endemics
• Greek flora

Acknowledgements

We express our sincere thanks to Prof. Emer. C. Fasseas for his help and advice in the preparation of the material. Moreover, special thanks to researchers A. Travlos, N. Boukos and E. Sakellis for accepting us in their Laboratory and spending their valuable time observing the material in SEM.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.