Pollen Morphology of Some Eastern Himalayan Species of Maesa (Primulaceae) and Its Taxonomic Significance

• Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, India. Section B: Biological sciences India. Section B: Biological sciences, 2021, Vol.91 (2), p.269-275
• Main Authors: Sarkar, Baishakhi, Basak, Shreyasi, Das, A. P., Siddhanta, Suchandrima, Maity, Debabrata, Bera, Subir
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Behavioral Sciences; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Life Sciences; Maesa; Morphology; Nucleic Acid Chemistry; Plant Biochemistry; Pollen; Primulaceae; Research Article; Scanning electron microscopy; Species; Taxonomic significance; Taxonomy
• ISSN: 0369-8211; 2250-1746
• DOI: 10.1007/s40011-020-01217-8

Detailed pollen morphological account of four species of Maesa Forssk. (Primulaceae) [ M. chisia , M. indica , M. macrophylla , M. rugosa ] from Darjeeling Himalaya and its possible taxonomic implications have been investigated using light (LM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The pollen grains are 3-zonocolporate with reticulate exine having prominent variations in the muri and lumina dimensions (striato-reticulate, microreticulate to punctate). The shape (sub-prolate, prolate-spheroidal to spheroidal) and size classes (very small to small) show little variation. The structural details of the pollen grains are found to be useful in identifying the grains in different applied palynological studies. The present study reveals the stenopalynous nature of the genus Maesa . The UPGMA study was performed to analyse the phenetic relationship of the studied species with previously published data. The observations further suggest that considering the pollen morphological characters, Maesa is more closely related to the Myrsinaceae and Theophrastaceae ( s.s. ) and differs greatly from Primulaceae ( s.s. ).