| dc.description.abstract | The genus Acacia which is the largestest in the subfamily
Mimosoideae and second largest within the family Leguminosae,
is one of the most widespread and important, having 38 indigenous
species in Kenya.
Its species are dominant and form an important component of the
vegetation over extensive tracts of the Republic. All geographical
divisions of Kenya as recognised by Flora of Tropical
East Africa have several species of Acacia some of which are of
economic importance.
An attempt is hereby made to study the species using their
pollen grains and the results have been compared with the
classifications based on the nature of the stipules and the
types of the inflorescences.
The nature of the apertures, the pollen grain number and the
exine stratification have been the major tools used to separate
the Acacia species into two natural groups. The two groups have
corresponded considerably well with sections Gummiferae and
Vulgares of Bentham's classification (1842). Colporate and
colummelate grains show a high de9ree of correlation with the
spines cent species while the simple porate and granulate grains
have correlated with the non-spinescent species.
Acacia albida Del. has been found to be anomolous on the basis
of pollen characters and has deviated from the Section
Gummiferae under which it was classified by Bentham (1842).
Its pollen grains show a remarkable difference from the grains
under Sections Gummiferae and Vulgares. A compromise has to
be reached on where to classify this species. The results suggest
that a taxonomic category should be created to accommodate it.
With the exception of Acacia albida a conclusion has been
reached that a correlation exists between pollen characters
and the classification outlined by Bentham (1842) on the
African Acacia species | en |
