POLLEN AND SEED MORPHOLOGY OF Verbascum SPECIES (GROUP D) (Scrophulariaceae) IN TURKEY

In this study, 8 species from Group D of the genus Verbascum, which occur throughout Turkey, were examined with regards to the micromorphology of thcir seeds and pollen via a scanning electron microscope. The grains of pollen were first nonacctolyscd and then studied under both a light microscope (LM) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The pollen grains of the species in Group D of Verbascum L. were tricolporate (in V. purpureum 3%, V. orbicularifolium 5%, and V. chionophyllum 8% tricolpate). The shapes of the pollen grains were prolate-spheroidal. Furthermore, the ornamentation was reticulate. Among the Verbascum species studied, the surface of this particular seed is ridged or alveolate, while the alveoli or ridge density and depth. polygonal cell size, as well as the positioning of the vesicles on the walls that separate the polygonal cells on the surface of the seed appear to he species-specific.