Pollen morphology of some Rosa L. cultivars from Egypt

Abstract

In this study, the pollen morphology of 24 cultivars of Rose (Rosa x hybrida L.) cultivated in Egypt Pollen grain has been studied by using Light (LM) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The pollen grains of all cultivars were monads, radially symmetrical, isopolar, and tricolporate. The size of pollen ranged from small to medium-sized. The shape varied from prolate-spheroidal, sub-prolate to prolate. Based on the exine sculpture features, four major types are recognized: striate, striate-psilate, psilate and granular verrucate. The striate type is the most dominant ornamentation with different patterns (striate with parallel striae to colpi, striate with perpendicular striae to colpi and striate with irregular pattern), while psilate and granular verrucate patterns were rarely observed in certain cultivars. The qualitative and quantitative features studied here used for cluster analysis and provide few taxonomic details which separate the cultivars. The diagnostic features of pollen grains of the studied cultivar pollen size, shape and exine sculpture.

Keywords

• rosa l
• pollen morphology
• light microscope and scanning electron microscope.