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INDEX

The latest edition of the "glossary" is published by ELSEVIER in the
Review of Palaeobotany and Palynolgy, Volume 143.
There you can download the glossary in PDF format.

Glossary of Pollen and Spore Terminology

W. Punt ¹, P.P. Hoen ¹, S. Blackmore ², S. Nilsson ^†, and A. Le Thomas ³

Second and revised edition 2007

¹ Laboratory of Palaeobotany and Palynology, Utrecht University, Budapestlaan 4, 3584 CD Utrecht, The Netherlands.
² Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, 20a Inverleith Row, Edinburgh, EH3 5LP United Kingdom.
³ Laboratoire de Phytomorphologie E.P.H.E., Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, 16, Rue Buffon, 75005, Paris, France.

Cite as:

Punt, W., Hoen, P.P., Blackmore, S., Nilsson, S. and Le Thomas, A., 2007.
Glossary of pollen and spore terminology.
Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 143 (1-2): 1-81

ABSTRACT

   The glossary of pollen and spore terminology was first presented to the international palynological community as the final outcome of the Working Group on Palynological Terminology at the 8th International Palynological Congress in Aix-en-Provence in 1992. It became widely accepted as reference guide for palynologists to assist in the preparation of accurate and consistent descriptions of their material. It also serves as a practical source of information for non-specialists who whish to understand the meaning of the large number of existing palynological terms.
   The history of the glossary began in 1972 at the 3rd IPC at Novosibirsk when the working group on palynology was established. Throughout its history the project has been a collaborative effort with contributions from many palynologists, representing all branches of the discipline. Only through this long and elaborate procedure, with input from many people, has it been possible to produce the glossary.
   The entries are arranged alphabetically and are accompanied by simple schematic illustrations where appropriate. These contain the minimum amount of information needed to explain the feature. Moreover, to simplify the recognition of pollen and spore wall layers, colours have been used to indicate the corresponding layers.
   The first edition had 547 terms of which 339 have been accepted and recommended for use. In the second edition a further 41 terms have been added, with their appropriate illustrations. Of these 10 have been accepted and 31 rejected for a variety of reasons. Where necessary illustrations have been revised. An extensive list of consulted literature is added.

PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION

This Glossary of Pollen and Spore Terminology is presented to the international palynological community at the occasion of the 5th anniversary of the LPP Foundation. The publication of the Glossary concludes a project of the Working Group on Palynological Terminology, functioning under the auspices of the International Federation of Palynological Societies (IFPS). Under convenorship of Wim Punt, an international committee of pollen morphologists has made an up-to-date compilation of the wide diversity of technical terms so far used in the description of pollen and spores - both modern and fossil.
Wim Punt, Stephen Blackmore, Siwert Nilsson and Annick Le Thomas have to be congratulated with the results of their effort. Under the technical editorship of Peter Hoen, who was also responsible for most of the illustrations, the format of their Glossary has become fully in harmony with the twofold objective of the terminology project. Besides being a useful reference guide for palynologists who have to provide accurate descriptions of their material, the Glossary may also serve as a practical source of information for non-specialists who have to understand the meaning of an ever-increasing number of palynological terms.

Utrecht, December 1993
LPP Foundation,
Henk Visscher (Chairman)
Henk Brinkhuis (Director)

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION

   The first edition of the glossary of pollen and Spore terminology was presented to the international palynological community in 1994. During the past 11 years it has served its purpose well, but during this time several more terms have been proposed and introduced. Moreover, a number of mistakes were detected and some drawings needed adaptation. For all these reasons the present authors considered a second, revised edition of the glossary should be prepared.
   The setup of the glossary is not changed at all as it has proven its usefulness. We keep the use of indications bold for accepted terms and normal text for rejected terms and synonyms. The indications for plural and adjective of the terms are also maintained. The most important difference is the use of colours for the drawings. We had in mind that different colours may be useful to indicate the different layers more easily. The meaning of the colours are given in the introduction.
   Finally we should like to dedicate the second edition to the late Dr. Siwert Nilsson who, in fact, was the initiator of the first edition. His continuous support to carry on with the project has much helped us to finish the final manuscript.

Utrecht, December 2005

INTRODUCTION

The terminology used in palynology has long been recognised as a deterrent to those who are not specialists in the subject. We hope that this glossary will make the subject more widely accessible at the same time as simplifying the application of palynological terms without losing any precision. We recognise that the Glossary is not perfect, and anticipate that revisions will be needed in the future.

This introduction sets out the objectives of the glossary, explains the format that has been followed in the text and the illustrations and, for those who may be interested, records the history of the project.

OBJECTIVES

   The objective of the project has been to provide a concise manual of terminology that can be used to clarify the communication of information concerning pollen grains and spores.

   It is hoped that this will help to make palynological literature more accessible to non-specialists and to beginners in the field. In this way it should encourage an increasingly standardised approach to the description of pollen grains and spores.

   We have tried to keep the glossary as simple as possible so that it can easily be used without much previous experience of palynology.

THE FORMAT OF THE GLOSSARY

   The entries are arranged alphabetically. The form that appears first (the singular, plural or adjectival form of the term) is generally the most commonly used form, although if all forms are widely used the singular is given first. A number of terms are mainly, or exclusively, used as adjectives.

   Where the term is printed in bold typeface this indicates that the term is in current usage and is recommended for continued use. Where the head word is printed in normal text this indicates that an alternative term should be used in preference. The definitions and literature references provided for such terms are included because they may be helpful in interpreting the literature. In each case the preferable, synonymous term is indicated.

   Cross references are also given to terms that indicate the opposite condition (antonyms) and to related terms (indicated by "see also"). A comment is provided where this may help in the application of a term, or to qualify the circumstances in which it is applied.

   The literature reference given for each term is not necessarily the earliest publication in which the term was used but has been selected as a helpful source of further information.

ILLUSTRATIONS

Simple schematic illustrations have been provided where appropriate. These contain the minimum amount of information needed to explain the feature.

Some conventions have been used:

Where both equatorial view and polar view are shown, the equatorial view (e) is generally given to the left of the polar view (p).
Drawings of pollen grains or spores seen in equatorial view are always shown with the distal pole uppermost.
Features of ornamentation are generally illustrated by a surface view on the left and a sectional view to the right.
Arrows have been used to indicate the particular part of the diagram to which the term applies. In other cases the feature referred to is shaded. In some cases both arrows and shading have been used.
A solid line is used to indicate a feature visible at the surface whilst a dotted line indicates a feature that lies below the surface, or behind another feature.
A standardised section of a pollen wall, illustrated below (Fig. 1), is used as the basis of a number of the diagrams referring to wall stratification.
Colours are used to indicate the different layers (Fig. 2).

Fig.1. Two different systems used to describe the exine stratification.

Fig.2. Colour scheme used in the drawings of the terms.

THE HISTORY OF THE GLOSSARY

   This glossary is the outcome of a initiative that began with the establishment, under the auspices of the International Commission for Palynology (now, the International Federation of Palynological Societies) of a Working Group on Palynological Terminology. With Jan Muller as Secretary, the Working Group communicated by means of circulars and questionnaires distributed among its members. Siwert Nilsson took on the role of Secretary of the Working Group between the 4th International Palynological Congress in Lucknow (1976) and the 5th IPC held in Cambridge in 1980. A report of the progress made by the Group was published by Nilsson and Muller (1978).

   At the 5th IPC it was proposed that the Working Group should work towards the publication of a glossary that would summarise and explain palynological terminology. After the Cambridge IPC Stephen Blackmore became Secretary and questionnaires continued to be circulated, in an effort to establish the approaches to terminology that could be adopted in a glossary. However, as previous experience had shown, relatively few palynologists replied, calling into question the utility of the Group's methodology. During a lively debate at the 6th IPC in Calgary (1984), the Working Group was dissolved with the intention of seeking a more rapid method of progress.

   A revitalised Working Group, with Wim Punt as Secretary, emerged at the 7th IPC in Brisbane (1988). Punt offered to convene a small committee that would start work on drafting a glossary. It was agreed that drafts of the glossary would be circulated as widely as possible so that the text could be revised as thoroughly as possible before publication (Report in Palynos 12,2, 1989). To achieve this, it was decided that draft manuscripts would be circulated to the representatives of each of the societies affiliated to the IFPS and to all members of the newly convened Working Group.

   Wim Punt then acted as convenor of a committee consisting of Stephen Blackmore, Siwert Nilsson and Annick Le Thomas. The First Draft, with a red cover, was circulated in 1989 and stimulated considerable interest. A Second Draft, with an orange cover, followed in 1990 and again drew many comments and suggestions from the Working Group. These comments were incorporated in a Third Draft, not widely distributed, which also included the very detailed comments of palaeopalynologists Al Traverse and Jan Jansonius.

   In April 1991, at the invitation of Knut Fægri the committee met in Bergen to revise the Third Draft and to consider the illustration and publication of the resulting glossary. The process of reconciling outstanding differences of opinion and revising the definitions, started in Bergen, was subsequently continued at meetings in Utrecht and London.

   In August 1992 an illustrated version of the Third Draft was prepared by Peter Hoen and distributed at the 8th IPC in Aix-en-Provence in a pale yellow cover as the First Concept. Once again the project benefited from the detailed comments of many palynologists. These have been included in this edition.

   It will be clear, from the history of the project, that this has been a collaborative project, with contributions from many palynologists, from all branches of the discipline. Only through this long and rather elaborate procedure has it been possible to produce the present glossary, which we hope goes some way towards meeting the original objectives of the project.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

   As in its first edition, the second of the Glossary has much benefitted greatly from the advise and expertise of a number of palynologists. We are in particular grateful for the remarks and critical comment of Dr. J. Jansonius and Dr. M. Harley.

   We thank the technical staff of the Elsevier Geoscience Journals Department for their help and continuous encouraging support in making the Glossary project a success.

   Last but not least we would like to thank Prof. Dr. A. Lotter and the members of the Laboratory of Palaeobotany and Palynology for their everlasting support of this project.

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