Chinese Journal of Polar Research

ADVANCES IN POLAR SCIENCE

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Pollen morphology in Saxifraga (Saxifragaceae) from Ny?lesund, Svalbard, Arctic, and its taxonomic significance

YAO Yifeng1*, Bera Subir2, Ferguson David Kay3 & LI Chengsen1   

  1. 1 State Key Laboratory of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, China;
    2 Department of Botany, University of Calcutta, Kolkata 700019, India;
    3 Department of Paleontology, University of Vienna, Vienna 1010, Austria
  • Online:1964-06-30 Published:1964-06-30
  • Contact: YAO Yifeng

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Abstract: Pollen morphology of eight species of Saxifraga, i.e. S. cespitosa, S. oppositifolia, S. cernua, S. nivalis, S. aizoides, S. rivularis, S. hieraciifolia, and S. hirculus, collected from Ny-?lesund, Svalbard, Arctic was examined using light and scanning electron microscopy. Pollen grains of Saxifraga species are subprolate or prolate, 3-colpate, 15.4–44.4 μm in the polar axis, 11.4–34.6 μm in the equatorial axis, and show a P/E ratio 1.19–1.40. On the basis of exine ornamentation, four pollen types, viz., the S. oppositifolia type (striate without scabrae on the muri), S. cernua type (striate with scabrae on the muri), S. nivalis type (microreticulate and operculum absent), and S. cespitosa type (microechinate and operculum present), were recognized. Hierarchical cluster analysis of the pollen morphological characters indicated that pollen morphology supports the infrageneric classification of the genus Saxifraga.

Key words: Arctic, Ny-?lesund, pollen morphology, Saxifraga, Svalbard