Abstract: The pollen morphology of Camellia rosthorniana Hand.-Mazz. was investigated under scanning electronic microscope（SEM），and as the pollen vitality and storage capacity of the pollens were characterized by using in vitro culture. Results indicated that flat spherical pollen of C. rosthorniana was in accordance with the general characters of pollen morphology of the genus Camellia. However，the pollen morphology of C. rosthorniana was obviously different from other species in Sect. Theopsis Coh. St. in equatorial view，polar view，apocolpium，colpus membrane，and cap of aperture. Therefore，C. rosthorniana should occupy special taxonomic status in the genus Camellia. Germination rate of fresh pollens of C. rosthorniana was up to 94.28% on liquid medium supplemented with 100 mg • L-1 H3BO3 and 200 g • L-1 sucrose after 48 h. Up to 85.28% germination rate was still observed in dried pollens after 60 d storage under 4 ℃，which could be used in solving the problem of asynchronous flowering time with C. japonica in cross breeding.

Key words: Camellia rosthorniana Hand.-Mazz., pollen morphology, vitality, storage capacity