Pollen Production in Relation to Ecological Class of Some Hydrophytes and Marsh Plants

Abstract

The knowledge of quantitative production and method of dispersal give some idea about the frequency of presence of particular plant pollen grains in the atmosphere or hydrosphere. Pollen production in terms of number per anther along with the particular anther number per flower, anther length, pollen grain size, mode of anther dehiscence was determined for 51 angiospermous hydrophytes and marsh species occurring in Tripura, India. Pollen production is species specific. The level of pollen production directly related to the anther size and anther number per flower. However, no such correlation could be drawn between pollen production and size of pollen grains. Most of the hydrophytic taxa of the present investigation are anemophilous. The anemophilous taxa are characterized by high pollen production. However no correlation could be drawn from the present study between the high pollen production and mode of anther de-hiscence as in all the studied taxa they show only one kind of anther dehiscence.