PALYNOLOGICAL STUDIES ON SELECTED EIGHT SPECIES OF ACACIA, Willd IN SOUTH INDIA

Acacia is one among the tribes of the family Mimosaceae of the order Leguminales. The Palynological study of Acacia genus is of great interest, since there is an apparent difference in the size and pollen apertures. In this present study the author selected 8 rare and important species of Acacia collected from various part of Tamilnadu, south India viz. Acacia auriculiformis cunn. ex Benth, Acacia catechu Willd, Acacia dealbata Link, Acacia latronum Willd, Acacia leucophloea Willd, Acacia longifolia Willd, Acacia mangium Willd and Acacia planifrons. W & A for studying pollen morphology. Also an attempt is made to interpret this diversity on the basis of the fundamental Palynological characters. The size differences mainly the number of pores is of great use in the identification of species. The pollen unit is of polyad type in all the 8 taxa, taken for this study. Aperture morphology showed Acacia auriculiformis cunn. ex Benth, Acacia leucophloea Willd and Acacia planifrons are 3–4 porate, Acacia catechu Willd and Acacia dealbata Link are indistinct, Acacia latronum Willd and Acacia mangium Willd are 4 porate, Acacia longifolia Willd is 3 porate respectively. The ornamentation is foveolate in Acacia catechu Willd, Acacia dealbata Link, Acacia latronum Willd and Acacia leucophloea Willd and faintly faveolate in Acacia auriculiformis cunn. ex Benth, Acacia longifolia Willd, Acacia mangium Willd and Acacia planifrons. W & A.