Polyclave Key: Key for Pollen Identification

These 29 Pollen Grains are defined in the Key, referred to by Pollen Grain-Number under the Character-State listings.

1-Alder 2-Ash 3-Basswood 4-Birch 5-Cattail 6-Dock 7-Elm 8-Fir 9-Goosefoot 10-Grass 11-Hackberry 12-Hemp 13-Hickory 14-Ironwood 15-Juniper 16-Maple 17-Mulberry 18-Nettle 19-Oak 20-Pine 21-Plantain 22-Poplar    23-Ragweed 24-Sage 25-Sedge 26-Spruce 27-Sycamore 28-Walnut 29-Willow

Pollen Grains are described by these States, arranged in 16 Characters:

1  Apertures (Pores and/or furrows can be observed)

      Present
[ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 23, 24, 25, 27, 28, 29 ]
      Absent
[ 8, 15, 20, 22, 26 ]

2  Porate (Definite pores can be observed)

      0
[ 2, 6, 8, 15, 16, 19, 20, 22, 23, 24, 26, 27, 29  ]
      1
[ 5, 10, 25 ]
      2
[ 4, 17 ]
      3
[ 3, 11, 12, 13, 14, 17 ]
      4
[ 1, 7, 11, 17, 18, 21, 25 ]
      5
[ 1, 7, 11, 21 ]
      Poly
[ 9, 11, 21, 28 ]

3  Colpate (Definite furrows can be observed)

      0
[ 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 28, 29 ]
      3
[ 2, 16, 19, 27 ]
      4
[ 2 ]
      5
[ 2 ]
      6
[ 2 ]

 4  Colporate (definite pores and furrows observed)

      0
[ 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 25, 26, 27, 28 ]
      3
[ 3, 6, 23, 24, 29 ]
      4
[ 6, 24, 29 ]

5  Aspis (Thickening above aperture observed)

      Present
[ 4, 10, 13, 14, 17, 28 ]
      Absent
[ 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 29 ]

6  Oncus (Thickening below aperture observed)

      Present
[ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 11, 12, 14, 17, 18, 19, 24, 28 ]
      Absent
[ 8, 9, 10, 13, 15, 16, 20, 21, 22, 23, 25, 26, 27, 29 ]

7  Arci (Thickening between apertures observed)

      Present
[ 9, 24 ]
      Absent
[ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 ]

8  Shape (Body type of grains observed)

      Oblate
[ 1, 3, 7, 11, 12, 18, 23, 24, 27 ]
      Sphere
[ 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 21, 22, 23, 24, 28, 29 ]
      Prolate
[ 2, 6, 19, 29 ]
      Triangular
[ 13, 25 ]
      Bladders
[ 8, 20, 26 ]

9  Sculpting¹ (Appearance of outer wall observed)

      Reticulate
[ 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10, 16, 20, 26, 27, 29 ]
      Scabrate
[ 1, 9, 11, 13, 14, 17, 19, 22, 28 ]
      Echinate
[ 23 ]
      Striate
[ 16 ]
      Rugulate
[ 4, 11 ]
      Smooth
[ 18 ]
      Granular
[ 7, 12, 25 ]
      Verrucate
[ 15, 21, 24 ]

10  Air Bladder Sculpting Change (Change in Mickey Mouse Ear sculpting observed)

      Gradual
[ 26 ]
      Sharp
[ 8, 20 ]
      Not Applicable
[ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 27, 28, 29 ]

11  Dorsal Cap Thickness (Wall thickness of pine type observed)

      Thick
[ 20 ]
      Variable
[ 8 ]
      Thin
[ 26 ]
      NA
[ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 27, 28, 29 ]

12  Diameter of Pollen (Size observed)

      Greater than 101 um
[ 8, 10, 20 ]
      Between 100-50 um
[ 8, 10, 12, 26, 28 ]
      Between 49-40 um
[ 3, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 13, 22, 26, 28 ]
      Between 39-35 um
[ 3, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 13, 15, 16, 19, 22, 28 ]
      Between 34-30 um
[ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11, 15, 16, 19, 22, 25 ]
      Between 29-25 um
[ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 22, 25, 29 ]
      Between 24-20 um
[ 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 12, 14, 16, 17, 19, 21, 23, 24, 25, 27, 29 ]
      Less than 19 um
[ 6, 17, 18, 21, 23, 24, 27

13  Exine Thickness² (Thickness of outer layer of pollen grain wall observed)

      Greater than 1 um
[ 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 26, 27, 28, 29 ]
      Less than 1 um
[ 5, 6, 7, 9, 22, 25 ]
Unknown
[ 12 ]

14  Intine Thickness³ (Thickness of inner layer of pollen grain wall observed)

      Greater than 1 um
[ 2, 6, 8, 10, 11, 13, 15, 19, 20, 22, 25, 28 ]
      Less than 1 um
[ 1, 2, 4, 7, 14, 16, 17, 21, 23, 24, 27, 29 ]
Unknown
[ 3, 5, 9, 12, 18, 26 ]

15  Number of Grains⁴ (Group or single grain(s) observed)

      Monad
[ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 ]
      Tetrad
[ 5 ]

16  Shape of Protoplast (Shape of inner part of a pollen grain)

      Star
[ 15 ]
      Circle
[ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29]

1 Maple and Hackberry have two possible sculpting types.
2 The exine thickness for Hemp pollen could not be found
3 Ash pollen has an intine that can be thicker or thinner than 1 um.
4 Cattail grains can either be tetrad or monad.