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ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Insect Pollinators and Plant Interactions;
Identification of Selected Melliferous Plants
Using Pollen Morphological Features
1
Department of Plant Sciences, Quaid- i- Azam University Islamabad, 45320, Pakistan
2
Biological Sciences Department, Faculty of Science and Arts, King Abdulaziz University, Rabigh, 21911, Saudi Arabia
3
Department of Botany, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan
4
Department of Biology, College of Sciences, Taif University, P.O. Box 11099, Taif 21944, Saudi Arabia
Submission date: 2024-04-01
Final revision date: 2024-05-20
Acceptance date: 2024-06-29
Online publication date: 2024-11-13
Publication date: 2025-06-06
Corresponding author
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2025;34(4):4567-4576
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
In this study, we explored the palynological features of melliferous taxa from different areas
in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. We collected and identified eight species belonging to four different families,
including Brassica campestris, Brassica juncea, Brassica oleracea, Eruca sativa, Chorispora tenella,
Cicer arietinum, Saccharum spontaneum, and Asphodelus tenuifolius. Under microscopy examination,
pollen grains exhibit diverse shapes, including oblate-spheroidal and prolate-spheroidal shapes.
With the help of statistical software IBM SPSS Statistics 20, the quantitative data of pollen grains
was measured. In this study, Asphodelus tenuifolius were reported to have a maximum polar diameter
of 46.29 μm and Brassica oleracea had a minimum of 17.97 μm. The apertures of these pollen grains
range from monocolpate to tricolpate. Exine sculpturing exhibited psilate and reticulate patterns,
with no presence of spines. Quantitative features, such as polar diameter, equatorial diameter, exine
thickness, colpi length, colpi width, and P/E ratio, were studied using light microscopy. The data
was statistically analyzed using IBM SPSS software. The result of the present study showed the vital
role of pollen morphology in plant identification, floral calendar preparation, and honey production
in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The study presents a novel approach and perspective on honey pollen profiles,
revealing the plants visited by honeybees for food. Furthermore, the research contributes to enhancing
honey production and improving pollination services.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
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