Pollen Morphology of some Carnivorous plants from Tripura, India

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Year 2013 Vol 2 Issue 2
Document Type : Original article
¹Somnath Bhowmik* ² B. K. Datta
¹Plant Taxonomy and Biodiversity Laboratory, Department of Botany, Tripura University, Suryamaninagar -799022, India
²Plant Taxonomy and Biodiversity Laboratory, Department of Botany, Tripura University, Suryamaninagar -799022, India
Abstract
Pollen morphological structure of two carnivorous plant family covering four species of Tripura, India namely Drosera burmannii Vahl (Droseraceae) Utricularia bifida Linnaeus, Utricularia ceruleaea Linnaeus and Utricularia gibba Linnaeus (Lentibulariaceae) have been studied under Scanning Electron Microscope for the first time. Pollen grains of the studied four taxa varied widely among them and could be used for segregating both at generic as well as species level. Pollens of Droseraceae shed in tetrahedral tetrad condition while those of Lentibulariaceae are in monad. The exine sculpture in Droseraceae is spinulose while in Lentibulariaceae it is psilate to faintly gemmate


Results and Discussion The pollen grains are isopolar in case of Drosera while heteropolar in case of Utricularia species. The pollen grains are united in monads in all case except Drosera burmannii Vahl (Droseraceae). An artificial key is prepared using pollen morphological character for easy identification. 1. Pollen grains shed in tetrahedral tetrads...... Drosera burmannii 1’. Pollen grains shed in monads.... 2. Exine psilate..... 3. Pollens 4-colporate..........Utricularia bifida 3’. Pollens 3-zonoporate ….. Utricularia ceruleaea 2’ .Exine faintly gemmates...... Utricularia gibba Drosera burmannii Vahl (Droseraceae) [Herb No: Bhowmik & Datta, 119; Figures. I, II] Pollen grains united in tetrahedral and in square tetrads, radially symmetrical, isopolar, Prolate, Polar axis P (44.00-) 46.2 ± 2.31 (-48.40) µm and Equatorial diameter E (22.00-) 25.08 ± 2.12 (- 26.40) µm. PA/ED: 1.84; Apertures are situated proximally. Exine spinulose. Utricularia bifida Linnaeus (Lentibulariaceae) [Herb No: Bhowmik & Datta, 572 Figures. III, IV] Pollen grains in monad, radially symmetrical, heteropolar, Prolate-spheroidal, Polar axis P (52.80-) 58.59 ± 4.31(-61.60) µm and Equatorial diameter E (54.50-) 57.76 ± 6.12 (-70.4) µm. PA/ED: 1.01; 4-colporate. Exine psilate. Utricularia ceruleaea Linnaeus (Lentibulariaceae) [Herb No: Bhowmik & Datta, 571; Figures. V] Pollen grains in monad, radially symmetrical, heteropolar, Oblate-spheroidal, Polar axis P (55.80-) 56.59 ± 4.31(-63.20) µm and Equatorial diameter E (56.50-) 58.76 ± 5.92 (-69.4) µm. PA/ED: 0.96; Pollens 3-zonoporate. Exine psilate. Utricularia gibba Linnaeus (Lentibulariaceae) [Herb No: Bhowmik & Datta, 379; Figures. VI, VII] Pollen grains in monad, radially symmetrical, heteropolar, Oblate-spheroidal, Polar axis P (27.28-) 30.45 ± 6.31(-35.20) µm and Equatorial diameter E (30.08-) 35.64 ± 7.52 (-39.60) µm. PA/ED: 0.85; Pollens spiaperturate. Exine faintly gemmate. In Drosera burmannii (Droseraceae) the apertures are situated proximally, .a state rarely found in the pollen of Angiospermous plants 14. The pollen grains of the remaining genera of the Droseraceae differ, in regard to both the position and structure of the apertures, from the pollen grains of Drosera. The pollen structure is different for each of the genera in this family, showing that the family is an ancient one 5 .In the present study we study Utricularia species from three different section viz., Utricularia bifida (Oligocista), Utricularia ceruleaea (Nigrescentes) and Utricularia gibba (Utricularia).Interestingly the pollen morphology of each section is different from the other. Such differences thus could be useful in separating the genus of Utricularia at generic level, species level.
Keywords
: Carnivorous, Droseraceae, Lentibulariaceae, Pollen Morphology, SEM
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