POLLEN ATLAS
OF BAT-POLLINATED
PLANTS OF CENTRAL FRENCH GUIANA
Vanessa Hequet
The
New York Botanical Garden
This Atlas was created as a part of Master Thesis research program
at The City University of New York and The New York Botanicl Garden
during 2002-2003 and should not be considered as an extensive
list of all bat-pollinated plants found in French Guiana. The
Pollen Atlas consists of more than 100 SEM pictures illustrating
about 60 species of plants either known or suspected to be pollinated
by bats. For each species, views of the entire pollen grain as
well as a close up of the exine ornamentation are provided. For
some species, additional images are included, especially when
they may give helpful hints for identification of the pollen.
The
images are arranged by scientific
name and by ornamentation
type. Because it is sometimes
difficult to classify the ornamentation
as one type or the other, the
same species is sometimes
included under several different
ornamentation types.
Although
this research was focused on bat-pollination
systems in undisturbed rain
forest,
some commonly
visited cultivated species, such
as Crescentia cujete, were included.
The
goal
of the Pollen
Atlas
is to
facilitate the identification
of pollen
carried
on the
fur or excreted
in the
feces of bats.
It can
be of use to
those
wishing to carry
out ecological
studies
of bats
in the Guianas.
METHODS
Once the species
were determined, the pollen was
extracted
from specimens archived in the herbaria of the Institut de Recherche pour le
Développement
in Cayenne (CAY) and The New York Botanical Garden (NY). Pollen
samples were mounted on aluminium stubs and examined and photographed
with a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) at The New York Botanical
Garden.
There is, however, a problem that complicates
the identification of sputter-coated pollen. Even though the time
of coating for pollen was standardized at two minutes, there
is still considerable variation in the thickness of the coating,
sometimes even on the same stub. This is especially true for
pollen with relatively shallow ornamentation and in fact, the
same species with a thin sputter coating may appear ornamented
whereas a thick coating can result in a nearly smooth appearance.
LIST OF SPECIES BY SCIENTIFIC NAME
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LIST OF SPECIES BY
ORNAMENTATION TYPE
In
this section, the pollen images are displayed according to ornamentation
type. For each ornamentation type, the pollen is presented
in a single table by increasing pollen size. Because of the
difficulty in interpreting the ornamentation type,
some species have been placed under several
types. For example, Mabea piriri is included under "reticulate
ornamentation" and under "perforate ornamentation."
Eight ornamentation types were distinguished,
7 of which were used in Gretchen D. Jones; Vaughn
M. Bryant. The “perforate
type” was added that
classified
under “reticulate” in Gretchen D. Jones.
![](pictures/pollen%20atlas%20page/psilate.jpg)
psilate surface
smooth or with pits< 1μ in diameter
scabrate
sculpturing elements small, < 1μm
clavate
sculpturing elements ≥ 1μm, not pointed but with a club-shaped
tip and constricted base, elements
longer than broad
verrucate
sculpturing elements not pointed,
≥ 1μm, elements width equal to or greater than its height and
base not constricted
echinate
sculpturing elements pointed, ≥ 1μm
striate
sculpturing elements horizontally elongated in a more
or less parallel pattern
reticulate
sculpturing elements
forming a net-like pattern of lacunae (holes) and muri (walls)
Cited reference
Jones GD, V. M. Bryant Jr., M. H. Lieux,
S. D. Jones and P. D. Lingren, (1995) Pollen of the Southeastern
United States: With emphasis on melissopalynology and
entomopalynology. (American Association of Stratigraphic
Palynologists foundation)
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