Pollen morphology of some selected vegetables in some areas in the Southwest Nigeria

Abstract

Pollen morphology of nine Nigerian vegetables cultivated in the south-west Nigeria was examined using light microscopy. The aim was to report on additional identification criteria for the plants especially when other means of identification are lacking. The nine plant species: Murraya koenigii L., Amaranthus hybridus L., Ocimum gratissimum L., Talinum fruticosum (L.) Juss., Cochorus olitorious L., Telfaira aoccidentalis (Hook.) F., Celosia argentea L., Solanum macrocarpon L., Capsicum frutescens L. and belonging to 7 families were collected from Lagos and Ibadan in the South-western Nigeria. These vegetables are highly consumed in Lagos because they were found in abundance in Lagos markets, although some were brought into those markets from neighbouring States. The flowers of these vegetables were collected, preserved in glacial acetic acid and transported to Palynology Laboratory for pollen analysis. Palynologyical studies were carried out through the process of acetolysis. The photomicrographs of the pollen were taken and various features of the pollen such as the shape of the pollen, the length and diameter of the apertures (which ranged from 0.20 μm to 18.00 μm), polar axis (which ranged from 7.00 μm to 19.00 μm), equatorial diameter (which ranged from 7.00 μm to 24.00 μm), and exine thickness (which ranged from 0.40 μm to 2.50 μm) were studied and documented. The results indicated that pollen grains exhibit considerable variation in their morphological characteristics. The results also confirmed that the pollen characteristics among species in the same family are similar to each other. The species that showed similarities in structure were said to exhibit inter-specific relationships, making them to be grouped in the same family while the species with differences in structures could be grouped in the same family. The study concludes that pollen characters may be significant in taxonomical studies and that if the pollen grains of these plants are found in an archeological context, inferences can be made about the people’s diet and medicine.