Pollen Morphology and Systematic Relationship of the Family Polygonaceae

Polygonaceae is a family which is very much controversial from taxonomical and phylogenetical point of view. The genera of the family have been treated differently by the taxonomists from time to time. In this work, the author has dealt the genera of the family, particularly the disputed & controversial ones with the morphology of the pollen grains, fine structure and ornamentation of the exine and aperture characters very cautiously and nicely and correlate those characters with other available biosystematical information from other branches of botany. In different chapters, author made a critical evaluation of palynological characters found to be taxonomically useful for general system of classification as well as infrafamilial recognition of taxa. Status of the genus Polygonum L. (s.I.) is very much discussed taxonomically in the past & present. Palynologically author supports the upliftment of certain section of Polygonum L. (s.l.) to the genera rank as suggested by different taxonomists. Author’s observation reveals that the genera Eriogonum, Fallopia, Koenigia, Persicaria, Aconogonum and Bistorta are very much distinct palynologically. Correlating the palynological observations with taxonomical and other evidences the author supports the taxonomic circumscription of Nakai (1926) and Hedburg (1946) and also phylogenitic relationships as proposed by Nowicke & Skvarla (1977).