Sampson Panajiotidis

Pollen morphology in relation to the taxonomy and phylogeny of some native Greek Aegilops species

The pollen morphology of some native Greek Aegilops species is investigated in LM (quantitative pollen characters) and SEM (exine sculpture) using acetolysed material. Furthermore, quantitative data are subjected to a multivariate analysis. The tetraploid Ae. cylindrica and its diploid parent Ae. caudata show a distinct morphological affinity as regards their quantitative pollen profile and the features of the exine sculpture. The tetraploid Ae. triuncialis is morphologically divergent from both its parents Ae. caudata and Ae. umbellulata due to the very large values of its quantitative pollen characters. However, the SEM survey of the exine sculpture indicates a rather high degree of similarity between Ae. triuncialis and Ae. umbellulata. No significant differences have been found between the two varieties of Ae. caudata (caudata and polyathera) concerning the quantitative pollen characters as a total or the morphology of the exine sculpture. The resultant clustering of the taxa on the basis of the quantitative pollen characters as well as the recorded similarities of their exine pattern are related to their sectional classification based on cytogenetical and morphological data.

4. Mount Paiko (northern Greece)

The peat bog lies in the middle of the northern part of Mount Paiko (41 ̊ 399 230 N, 22 ̊ 189 170 E; 1080 m a.s.l.; size ca. 0.25 ha) about 3.5 km south to southwest of Archangelos village. Deciduous oak forests interspersed with stands of chestnut and lime as well as beech forests at higher altitudes constitute the vegetation of Mount Paiko (Korakis, 2003). Beech also forms the forest limits. The peat bog is located in the transition zone between oak and beech forest. The climate is characterized as humid continental, with short warm summers (Dfb type according to Köppen). The mean annual temperature and precipitation are 12 ̊C and 558.3 mm, respectively.

Pollen Morphology and its Contribution to the Taxonomy of Some Native Greek aegilops Species.

Pollen morphological characters (mainly those of the exine sculpture) have been used as a means in studying the phylogeny and taxonomy of certain genera of the Gramineae family(Grant 1972, Rajendra et al. 1978, Sun and Liang 1991). In the present study some native Greek Aegilops species of the wider group of genomes C,U which comprises the diploids Ae. umbeUulata U and Ae. caudata var. typica and polyathera C. and tetraploid hybrids Ae. triuncial is UC and Ae. cylindrica DC (genome symbols after Kimber and Tsunewaki 1988) are investigated for their pollen quantitative characters. The results are compared to those of different taxonomical discriminations based on morphological (Zhukovsky 1928. Eig 1929) and cytogenetical data (Kihara 1954. Chennaveeraiah 1960).