Pollen morphology in selected Cupressaceae Gray. and Sciadopityaceae Luerss. species in an experimental culture

Pollen grains of Cunninghamia lanceolata, Cryptomeria japonica and Sciadopitys verticillata were examined by light and scanning electron microscopy. The pollen grains were non-saccate, generally oblate-spheroidal, spheroidal, prolate-spheroidal or subprolate. The pollen grains had papillae of different sizes and shapes on the distal face. The papillae were more conspicuous in C. japonica than in C. lanceolata. The pollen exine sculpture in the proximal view was verrucate-granulate and verrcucate with microechinate suprasculpture in SEM. The surface of the exine was covered with echinate orbicules in Cupressaceae species. There were some differences in the size of the verrucae, perforation on the proximal surface and distal face between S. verticillata pollen grains and other species. This study of the pollen grain morphology provided some important new data which have not been reported in literature so far.