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 Ac- oraceae, all from China except Arum maculatum, has been investigated under scanning electron mi- croscope. 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 panto- porate, 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 Arace- ae, particularly the intergeneric relationships among Rhaphidophora, Epiprermnum and Monstera, and the infrageneric classification within Typhonium, are discussed. Palynological data seem to sup-port the treatment of Rhaphidophora, Epipremnum and Monstera as three independent genera.