April 30, 2024

Photomicrograph of pollen grains (please provide details of what flower the pollen was collected from).

Entrant ID:  1042567 Entrant Name:  Gill Brewer
Description: Pollen grains from Phacelia tanacetifolia. X400 magnification. Photograph taken with a mobile phone through the eyepiece.
A blue pollen load, dropped by a bee, was collected from the monitoring tray under a mesh floor.
The pollen load was crushed with a drop of water. A sample was placed on a glass microscope slide and dried on a hotplate. Stain, glycerine jelly and coverslip were added, and the slide viewed under a light microscope. Pollen grains can by identified by their colour, size, shape, apertures and surface pattern.
These pollen grains which looked like tiny pink sea-urchins, were confirmed as coming from Phacelia, as suspected from the blue colour of the pollen.
Entry: 1042567-4
Result: rosette-red

 

Entrant ID:  1044039 Entrant Name:  John MacDougall
Description: 1. This is a surface view of a pollen grain of Winter Jasmine (Jasminum nudiflorum) showing a
medium-fine net surface and a long furrow with an aperture at the top.
It is round and about 50 microns in diameter.
Microscope: Brunel SP22, 400x magnification
Camera: Motorola 3rd generation, hand-held
2. This is a pollen grain of French Marigold (Tagetes patula) showing a coarse net surface and
many long, thin spines.
It is round and about 38microns in diameter (medium size)
Microscope: Brunel SP22, 400x magnification
Camera: Motorola 3rd generation mobile phone, hand-held
Entry: 1044039-4
Result: rosette-gold