Pollen morphology of Carapa species (Meliaceae) from the Brazilian Amazon

Abstract

The crabwood (Carapa) represents an important source of natural resources. The objective of this work was to study the pollen morphology of the three species of Carapa (Meliaceae) registered in the Brazilian Amazon. The pollen grains were obtained from floral buds, pistillate and staminate flowers of Carapa guianensis, C. surinamensis and C. vasquezii. In order to explore the taxonomic implications of the pollen study for these species of Carapa, lactic acetolysis method was used for light microscopy study. Furthermore, the non-acetolyzed material was used in the study of the scanning electron microscopy. It was found that the three Carapa species present little variations in pollen morphology. Compared to the other species this study, Carapa vasquezii has higher values for the length and width of endoaperture; however, it has lower values for polar and equatorial diameter, equatorial diameter in polar view and apocolpium side.