2) Using a Leica microscope that was able to capture images, we took a few pictures at 35x magnification.
These photos are showing the spores on pollen for sword fern (above) and indian pipe (below).
3) We used a growing solution made up of 0.1% boric acid and 30% sucrose. While our pollen didnot end up growing pollen tubes, we still were able to draw a few pictures of the pollen samples on the wet mount slides.
The leftmost circle shows a drawing of the indian pipe pollen at 400x, middle circle shows a drawing of rose fern pollen at 400x, and the rightmost circle shows a drawing of fern pollen at 400x. (Artwork by Fiona Gredvig)
4) During our time using the SEM, we were looking specifically for differences in pollen types.
These were our three test plants, and here is what their pollen looked like under the SEM FEI Phenom Pro.
Photos to the left show the plants in their in situ phase, and photos to the left were taken with the SEM to show the pollen after it had died and dried out.
These are the three test plants that we studied. In the left column are picture of the actual plants. That is what they would look like if you found them growing in the wild. In the right column are pictures of the pollen under the SEM. The green measurements on the SEM photos signify how big the pollen is in Micrometers.
Photo credit:
