Morphological Study of Pollen Grains and Seeds in Two Species from the Family Poaceae in Iraq

Abstract

Pollen grains and seeds varied in size, color and surface decoration in the species of the genus under study. The shape, dimensions and characteristics of pollen and seeds are important in distinguishing the two genus, so the current study dealt with the phenotypic characteristics of pollen and seeds and took full measurements for them. The phenotypic study showed that the majority of the pollen grains were of a single-grooved style, and the shape of the grain varied between oblate-spheroidal or spheroidal in the polar view and elongated in the equatorial view. As for the surface of the pollen grain, it was distinguished by being micro reticulate sculpturing in the two studied species. As for the size, its sizes varied between small and medium size, and the surface decoration of the grain wall was reticulate. A study of the phenotypical characteristics of the seeds showed their variation in terms of shape between their shapes, which were ellipsoid in S. arabica and oblong in S. barbatus, The color of the seeds ranged from light brown in the species S. arabica to dark brown in the other species, and with regard to the surface coating, it did not show a clear difference between the two species under study. The two species were distinguished by being smooth and glabrous, while the surface ornamentation was microreticulate in S. arabica and sulcate in S. barbatus.