Seven accessions of african diploid and tetraploid and brazilian tetraploid plants of Hemarthria altissima were studied to distinguish, in each ploidy level, the characters of pollen grain diameter and stomatal size. Measurements were performed with ocular micrometer microscope. Results demonstrated that pollen grain diameter can be used to characterize different ploidy levels, but the stomatal size is not a reliable criterion in this species.
ploidy; forage grass; pollen; stomata