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Australian Systematic Botany Australian Systematic Botany Society
Taxonomy, biogeography and evolution of plants
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Polyaperturate pollen types and ratios of heteromorphism in the monocot genus Conostylis (Haemodoraceae)

Nuri B. Pierce A B and Michael G. Simpson A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Department of Biology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92182-4614, USA.

B Corresponding author. Email: nuribpierce@gmail.com

Australian Systematic Botany 22(1) 16-30 https://doi.org/10.1071/SB08040
Submitted: 30 August 2008  Accepted: 27 November 2008   Published: 11 March 2009

Abstract

Pollen aperture heteromorphism (variation of aperture number in pollen grains within each flower and in all plants of a taxon) is described in the diverse monocot genus Conostylis R.Br. (Haemodoraceae) and that of related genera, all endemic to Western Australia. We report results of pollen observations from 153 specimens. In Conostylis, aperture number varies greatly, with biporate, triporate, tetraporate and polyporate pollen present, features considered rare and possibly developmentally significant for monocots. Pollen aperture types and their ratios in this genus are stable and consistent within species and subspecies groupings and phylogenetically informative.


Acknowledgements

We thank the herbaria of Kew Gardens (K), Western Australia (PERTH), Rancho Santa Ana Botanical Garden (RSA-POM) and San Diego State University (SDSU) for their assistance and for kindly allowing us to remove pollen samples from their specimens. We thank the department of Conservation and Land management (CALM) in Western Australia, for the collection permits to complete this study on Western Australian Flora and the Western Australian Herbarium (PERTH) for their invaluable assistance as well as their help in specimen identification. Our gratitude also goes to our anonymous reviewers who greatly helped improve our paper.


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Appendix 1.  Conostylidoideae voucher specimen documentation and heteromorphism ratio and origin
Acc. no., Herbarium accession number; Bi, Biporate grain; Coll., collected for the present study; H, Herbarium; Polyp., polyporate grain; Sp.Orig., specimen origin; Te, tetraporate grain; Tri, triporate grain
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