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POLLINATION TYPES AND POLLEN CHARACTERS WITHIN FLORA OF KARACHI

ANJUM PERVEEN, TAHIR ALl AND M. QAISER

Abstract: The correlation between pollen characters and pollination types in 218 genera and 351 species belonging to 67 angiosperm families from Karachi was studied. Entomophily is the dominant (65.24%) pollination type, while 33.04% taxa are anemophilous and about 1.71 % taxa altogether exhibit ornithophily, hydrophily and zoophily. A definite relationship occurs between pollen characters and pollination types especially in entomophily and anemophily. Pollen grains of entomophilous taxa are characterized by compound apertures i.e., 3-colporate, prolate-spheroidal shape, generally large, thick walled, sticky and with reticulate tectum, while pollen grains of anemophilous taxa are with simple apertures i.e., monoporate, spheroidal, small, thin walled, dry and with scabrate-areolate tectum.

Department of Botany,University of Karachi, Karachi-75270, Pakistan.