A study on the pollen of selected species of Sapindales A. Juss. ex Bercht. & J. Presl (Magnoliophyta) occurring in an urban forest fragment in southeastern Brazil.

Order Sapindales includes species with high economic potential and wide geographic distribution, for which there are taxonomic divergences and gaps in knowledge of pollen morphology. The Atlantic Forest, albeit fragmented, houses many Sapindales species for which palynological studies are still incipient. The present study aims to investigate the morphology of pollen grains of Sapindales species occurring in an urban forest fragment located in southeastern Brazil. This forest fragment presents high species richness, which include five families of Sapindales: Anacardiaceae R.Br., Burseraceae Kunth, Meliaceae A. Juss., Rutaceae A. Juss., and Sapindaceae A. Juss. The botanical material used belongs to the Leopoldo Krieger Herbarium collection. Our observations were done under light microscope and scanning electron microscope, using standardized methodologies adopted in Palynology. Our findings show that the pollen grains have a subcircular, triangular or quadrangular amb; peroblate to prolate shape; the apertural types are 3-porate, 3-colporate, 3-syncolporate and 3-parasyncolporate; and ornamentation varies from psilate, reticulate, microreticulate to striate.