FINE STRUCTURE OF PARKINSONIA ACULEATA POLLEN. I. THE POLLEN WALL

Abstract

L arson , D onald A., and C. W illard L ewis , J r . (U. Texas, Austin.) Fine structure of Parki ns onia aculeata pollen. I. The pollen wa ll. Amer. Jour. Bot. 48(10): 934–943. Illus. 1961.—Fresh pollen samples and chemically fossilized pollen samples were fixed in either potassium permanganate or osmium tetroxide and some sectioned material was poststained in an effort to demonstrate the various wall components existing in pollen of P. aculeata. The exine was observed to be consistently 2‐layered with the layers corresponding to the endexine and ektexine demonstrated with basic fuchsin staining by optical microscopy. The exine also contained an extensive system of internal channels. Aperture membranes contained laminate‐globulate fine structure, and this has been interpreted as a modification for the maintenance of membrane continuity through changes in pollen grain volume.