Pollen from either Freesia or Alstroemaria. Have to look deeper into the ID. Thanks, Lou.
Pollen
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Pollen
Michael Reese Much FRMS EMS Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA
Amazing pollen shot! There is no doubt it is an Alstroemeria. The flowers are distinctive enough, but the earlier picture also shows the remarkable leaves which are like no other plant in the world except related Bomarea. They are built "upside down", with their stomata on top of the leaf which is suicidal for a plant growing upright. To prevent death from drying out, their petioles twist 180 degrees so that the "top" of the leaf ends up facing the ground.
They are related to Bomarea which climb and often hang down. It makes sense for that genus to have stomata on "top" (on the side that faces the growing point of the stem), if the branches often point down (since then the stomata would be facing the ground). Perhaps this was the ancestral genus and Alstroemeria evolved from it, inheriting this now-useless quirk.
They are related to Bomarea which climb and often hang down. It makes sense for that genus to have stomata on "top" (on the side that faces the growing point of the stem), if the branches often point down (since then the stomata would be facing the ground). Perhaps this was the ancestral genus and Alstroemeria evolved from it, inheriting this now-useless quirk.