Juniper Pollen :    Exine Rupture Video

Pollen grains of Juniperus communalis are spherical and range from 21 to 25 micrometers in diameter.
The exine (outer pollen wall) is relatively thin, while the intine (inner pollen wall) is thick. In contact
with water or aqueous environments, the intine will swell and often ruptures through the exine.

Here then is a short video of a Juniper pollen grain in water under a cover glass swelling
and then rupturing as described above.

juniper pollen_rupture 1000x.DIVX      14 seconds    2.3 MB
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Another video of a cluster of Juniper pollen showing a variety of shapes.

juniper pollen cluster 1000xbf_6984.DIVX      14 seconds    2.1 MB


1000x Mag    Brightfield    oil immersion

Thomas Ashcraft
New Mexico