Mimosoid Pollen in Madagascar
Collection locations of mimosoid legume taxa studied for pollen type in Madagascar, showing the tendency for taxa releasing pollen in monads to occur in wetter regions.
The pollen of the legume subfamily Mimosoideae is known to largely occur in polyads, meaning that mature pollen is released in groups of a variable number of pollen grains, which may either be loosely stuck together or all surrounded by a common wall. There are some mimosoid species in which pollen is released as individual grains, and such species occur in early-diverging mimosoid genera alongside other species that release their pollen in polyads. This project examines whether there are observable ecological distributions that explain these differences in endemic mimosoid species of Madagascar. RBG Kew has particular expertise in producing and analysing GIS data for Madagascar, and this will be utilised in this study.
Project Team
Project Leader: Banks, Hannah
Herbarium
Gwilym Lewis, Justin Moat, Lourdes Rico
Jodrell Laboratory
Hannah Banks