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Pollen morphology and diversity in some Nigerian species of <i>Jatropha</i> L. (Euphorbiaceae)
Abstract
Pollen morphology and diversity were studied in five Nigerian species of Jatropha L. (Euphorbiaceae) using acetolysis method and Light Microscopy (LM) with a view to assessing the taxonomic importance of pollen characters in the classification and delimitation of members of genus Jatropha L. Overall results showed that pollens in this genus are generally inaperturate or monocolpate. Occasionally, bicolpate grains are observed in J. curcas and J. podagrica. Exine sculpturing generally consists of rounded depressions/ornamentation across the taxa while triangular pattern on the pollen wall is common to some of the taxa. Pollen attributes like pollen diameter, pollen wall thickness, depth of colpi and distance between colpi vary significantly (p<0.05) among the taxa. The results of this study show that pollen characters are important in the classification of the genus Jatropha and also support previous revision of the genus based on anatomical and morphological characters.
Keywords: Taxonomy, delimitation, acetolysis, exine, aperture.
