Abstract:

Pollen grains of 43 species of the genus Primulina from South China were observed under a scanning electron microscope. The morphological variability of pollen and the taxonomic implications of pollen morphology were observed，in addition，the result of cluster analysis（UPGMA）was performed on the palynology data and reported here，showing：（1）Pollen grains of Primulina were all tricolpate，sexine ornamentation all were reticulate，while the distinction exists in size，shape and exine sculpture among different species.（2）Cluster analysis resulted in the delimitation of six main subclusters with seven groups，the result showed that the great morphological hetero-geneityis in the genus is polyphyletic；And through combine，comparative analysis and species distributions，indicates that the developing and forming of karsts physiognomy in South China played an important role in the taxa differentiation of Primulina.

Key words: Primulina, palynology, UPGMA, systematic significance