Chenopodiaceae-Amaranthus


Chenopodium ambrosoioides
SW School of Botanical Medicine


Chenopodium album
APMRU G. Jones


Atriplex polycarpa
UofA Palynology

Plant:
The Chenopodiaceae-Amaranthus pollen type includes nearly all of the species of the family Chenopodiaceae (except Sarcobatus) and the genera Amaranthus and possibly Acnida in the Amaranthaceae.
Three names have been applied to this pollen-type:

  • "Chenopodium-type (Cushing, 1963)"
  • "Chenopodiineae (McAndrews in Wright et al., 1963)" and
  • "Cheno-ams (Martin, 1963)."

    Pollen light micrograph:
    The Chenopodiaceae-Amaranthus pollen type is spherical (elliptical), periporate, and scabrate to psilate. The number of pores is over 30.

    Pollen scanning electron micrograph (SEM)
    Small, uniformly-distributed elements can be seen over the tectum. The pore membrane may have elements.

    Production and Dispersal:
    Chenopodiaceae-Amaranthus pollen grains are very common, reaching abundances of over 60%. Both taxa are wind-pollinated and thier pollen is found far from the parentl plants.

    Preservation:
    They are well-preserved and their characteristic appearance leads to easy recognition (and over-counting) in fossil records.

    • Fossil Occurrence:
    It is present in late Cretaceous deposits of western Canada (Sravastava, 1968).

    References:
      Cushing, E.J. 1963.
      Late-Wisconsin pollen stratigraphy in east-central Minnesota. Ph.D. Dissertation, Univ. Minnesota, 165 p

      Martin, P.S., 1963.
      "The Last 10,000 Years." U of Arizona Press.

      Sravastava, S.K. 1968.
      Assorted angiosperm pollen from the Edmonton Formation (Maestrichtian), Alberta Canada. Can. J. Bot. 47: 975-989.

      Wright, H.E., Jr., Winter, T.C., and Patten, H.L. 1963.
      Two pollen diagrams from southeastern Minnesota: Problems in the regional late-glacial and postglacial vegetational history. GSA Bull. 74: 1371-1396.
    Links

    Owen K. Davis 12/99