Pollen morphological variation in Vanguerieae (Ixoroideae - Rubiaceae)

The Vanguerieae is a large tribe of the subfamily Ixoroideae (Rubiaceae) and consists of about 500 species in 27 genera. This study gives a detailed pollen morphological description of 30 species from 16 genera, based on light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The Vanguerieae are considered to be stenopalynous, although there is some evidence to question this. First, there is a difference in sexine types that clearly de® nes Keetia and Psydrax ( both reticulate) , and Canthium and Vanguerieae (both perforate with very small perforations) from the other Vanguerieae investigated. Second, pollen grains corroborate the subgeneric delimitations of Canthium sensu Bridson. Pollen morphologically the tribe is characterised by ( 1) the shape of the ectoapertures which is intermediate between a colpus and a porus, and ( 2) the presence of a costa oriented perpendicular to the ectoaperture and has a form which is correlated with the shape of the costa.