title: Pollen of Ceratostema (Ericaceae, Vaccinieae): tetrads without septa.
abstract: The pollen morphology of two species of the Neotropical genus Ceratostema (Ericaceae) was examined by light, scanning and transmission electron microscopy. The Ceratostema species examined have 3-colporate pollen grains united in permanent tetrahedral tetrads that show a common condition encountered in the Ericaceae. But the septal exine was absent between two neighboring grains in each pollen tetrad of Ceratostema. The pollen tetrads without septa are the first report for the Ericaceae as well as other angiosperm families.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Systematic Botany, Graduate School of Agriculture, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan. sarwar@museum.hokudai.ac.jp
authors.forename: A K M Golam
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Sarwar
authors.forename: Toshiaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ito
authors.forename: Hideki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takahashi
mesh_terms: D029791:Ericaceae / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D011058:Pollen / Q000166:cytology* / Q000648:ultrastructure