Studies on the reproductive and pollen biology of Terminalia Arjuna, W&A (Combretaceae).

ABSTRACT

Terminalia arjuna is a deciduous tree widely distributed in tropical semi-evergreen and moist deciduous forests. Flowers of T. arjuna have ten stamens, which remain inside the bud and anthesis is carried out at different times of the day. Pollen grains are yellow in colour, medium and spherical, aperture is tri zonocolporate and exine is smooth. The pollen ovule ratio is about 15,400 1. Optimum germination was seen in BBM + 12.5% sucrose. After 16 hr of anthesis, the pollen grains lost their viability and there was no fruit set. The current findings will be useful in studying pollen – pistil interactions, gene flow and heterozygosity of the T. arjuna populations.