Examination of pollen morphology of some Aethionema (Brassicaceae), from Turkey

Pollen morphology of 23 species of taxonomically difficult genus Aethionema W.T.Aiton was examined by light microscopy (LM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Pollen grains have showed significant variation in aperture number and type. Generally pollen is tricolpate, but tricolpate-syncolpate, tetracolpate, or merely syncolpate apertures also occur and make a heteromorphic assemblage. Pollen shape is prolate, prolate-spheroidal, subprolate, spheroidal or suboblate, and pollen ranges from 9.4 to 29 µm (P), 6.2 to 23.9 µm (E). Five main pollen types were identified based on the sculpturing of the exine. The pollen shape, size, surface ornamentation, muri and lumina shape and size are found as important and useful features for distiguishing of the taxa