Myosotis pollen

As part of a larger study on the systematics of New Zealand forget-me-nots, the pollen of several species of Myosotis was examined to obtain taxonomically useful characters. Pollen grains were removed with permission from herbarium specimens from Te Papa's herbarium (WELT), as well as other national and international herbaria (AK, CHR, CONC, OTA and S in 2016; and AD, AK, BRI, CANB/CBG, CHR, HO, MEL, NSW, OTA and PERTH in 2018).

The pollen grains were then prepared and imaged using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Several pollen characters were measured or scored from the images. Myosotis pollen from multiple taxonomic entities from New Zealand, Chile, Australia and New Guinea have been described and analysed statistically.

The results from these studies can be seen in two publications by Te Papa researcher Heidi Meudt (Meudt 2016 and Meudt et al. 2020). These pollen data will be useful in helping determine how many New Zealand species of Myosotis there are, and how they can be distinguished from one another.

Special thanks to Niki Murray, Manawatu Microscopy and Imaging Centre, Palmerston North, who performed the SEM and took all the images. All images are copyright Te Papa.

Forget-me-not research at Te Papa is supported by Core funding for Crown Research Institutes from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s Science and Innovation Group.

References

Meudt HM. 2016. Pollen morphology and its taxonomic utility in the Southern Hemisphere bracteate-prostrate forget-me-nots (Myosotis, Boraginaceae). New Zealand Journal of Botany DOI: 10.1080/0028825X.2016.1229343. All 371 images rom this study can also be downloaded in one pdf.