Pollen morphology of the Araceae from China
中国天南星科花粉形态的研究

Pollen morphology in 28 species of 22 genera in the Araceae and two species in the Acoraceae, all from China except Arum maculatum, has been investigated under scanning electron microscope. Pollen grains in the Araceae are morphologically highly variable among the genera. They are spherical, subspherical, ellipsoidal, oblate or olive_shaped in shape. The apertures are pantoporate, tenuate, zonate or inaperturate. The exine ornamentation is foveolate, reticulate, ribbed, striate, verrucate, echinate or psilate. Based on the results, some taxonomic problems in the Araceae, particularly the intergeneric relationships among Rhaphidophora, Epipremnum and Monstera, and the infrageneric classification within Typhonium, are discussed. Palynological data seem to support the treatment of Rhaphidophora, Epipremnum and Monstera as three independent genera.