The pollen of 22 species of Saussurea and 1 species of Himalaiella were observed and compared by scanning electron microscopy to understand the degree of differentiation at the level of pollen morphology， and the pollen cluster analysis was carried out to provide a sporological basis for the classification of this genus， and further provided germplasm resources utilization of Saussurea in the region. The results showed that： （1）There were 20 species of 23 plants with subspherical pollen shape and three were oblate spherical； most of the pollen volume belonged to medium-sized pollen， and the overall type was relatively evolved. （2）Except for Saussurea Nephrolepis， which was a four-pore pollen， the pollen of the other 22 species had three pore grooves. （3）The outer wall ornamentation of pollen of 23 species could be divided into seven types： seven types of reticulate， six types of reticular and granular， six types of cavernous， and there were one smooth， one spine-based cavernous and one interspinous with wrinkled waves， one granular and one ruffled. （4）Cluster analysis based on pollen micromorphology of 23 plant species showed some consistency with the plant classification system and was even relatively clear among some subgenera. The results of this paper suggested that pollen micromorphological features might provide a basis for species identification in this genus.
%U https://bbr.nefu.edu.cn/EN/10.7525/j.issn.1673-5102.2023.05.011