The flowers of Couroupita guianensis are pollinated by female bees that collect hood pollen to feed to their larvae. At the same time, fertile pollen from the ring is deposited on their head and back from where it is transferred to the stigma of subsequent flowers visited. Lecythidaceae are mostly self-incompatible so ring pollen usually has to be carried from a flower of one tree to a flower of another tree.

Middle right: ring pollen in monads.
Lower left: hood pollen in tetrads.
Lower right: rough exine of hood pollen.

Other frames show pollen of Lecythis pisonis which is not morphologically differentiated.