Pollen

Today I started analysing pollen samples. This involved staining pollen with fuchsin and preserving it in glycerin jelly. The photo is circular as it's taken from a light microscope. Hopefully I'll be able to get a proper camera connected later in the week so I can take some better photos. 

Unfortunately Lathyrus species have fairly boring pollen (all the oval ones). There's absolutely loads of it in all of my samples and I have to count it all. However, I'm also looking out for pollen from different species of plants too (put onto the stigmas by visiting pollinators). The one in the middle is one of these foreign pollen grains. I'm not sure what it is but I think from the shape it's likely to be in the Asteraceae family.