Abstract
Pollen morphology of the four traditional genera (Paphiopedilum, Selenipedium, Cypripedium, Phragmipedium) comprising the cypripedioid orchids indicates that the monads are sulcate, more or less smooth-surfaced, and covered by a non-acetolysis resistant layer called elastoviscin. Evidence from ultrathin sections of pollen grains shows that typical exine layers are present only inSelenipedium, modified inPhragmipedium and absent inPaphiopedilum and most species ofCypripedium; that a small, inconspicuous portion of the grain surface is constructed as a sulcus; and that the pollen grain wall acts as a sponge in rapidly absorbing water. Several instances of parallelisms between non-related families and among different groups of orchids are reported and new ideas on the evolution of theCypripedioideae are presented.
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Dedicated to Prof. DrE. Tschermak-Woess on the occasion of her 70th birthday.
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Burns-Balogh, P., Hesse, M. Pollen morphology of the cypripedioid orchids. Pl Syst Evol 158, 165–182 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00936343
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00936343