POLLEN MORPHOLOGY OF SOME TURKISH AJUGA L. (LAMIACEAE) AND ITS TAXONOMIC VALUE

Pollen morphological structures of eight Turkish species of Ajuga, namely A. bombycina Boiss., A. chamaepitys (L.) Schreber ssp. chin var. chia (Schreber) Arcangeli, A. chamaepitys (L.) Schreber ssp. chia var. ciliata Briq., A. chamaepitys (L.) Schreber ssp. cuneatifolia (Stapf) P. H. Davis, A. genevensis L., A. laxmannii (L.) Benthum, A. orientalis L. and A. remain L. have been studied under light and scanning electron microscopes for the first time. It is revealed that the pollen grains of Ajuga taxa are more or less suboblata-subprolata and tricolpatae. The exine sculpture is granulate in A. chamnepitys subsp. chia var. chin, A. chamaepitys subsp. cuneatifolia, A. genevensis, A. laxmannii, A. orientalis and A. reptans, but it is reticulate in A. bombycina and A. chamaepitys subsp. chic: var. ciliata.