Pollen morphology of some Veronica species (Plantaginaceae) from Turkey

Abstract

The aim of the present work is to provide an account on the morphological features of pollen of Veronica species in Turkey, as a contribution to future research. Pollen morphology of 20 species of the Veronica were investigated using Light Microscope (LM) and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). Different palyno-morphological features including; pollen ornamentation, colpus ornamentation, size of polar and equatorial diameter, P/E ratio, exine thickness, and size of colpus were observed. The study revealed that the pollen grains of the studied Veronica species were in all cases tricolpate, radially symmetrical and isopolar, oblate-spheroidal or prolate spheroidal. The surface pattern of the exine varied from striato-reticulate and striato-microreticulate to microechinate-perforate, which allows recognition of three homonymous types of pollen grains.