Abstract: Pollen morphology in 28 species of 22 genera in the Araceae and two species in the Acoraceae, all from China except Arum maculatum, has been investigated under scanning electron microscope. Pollen grains in the Araceae are morphologically highly variable among the genera. They are spherical, subspherical, ellipsoidal, oblate or olive-shaped in shape. The apertures are pantoporate, tenuate, zonate or inaperturate. The exine ornamentation is foveolate, reticulate, ribbed, striate, verrucate, echinate or psilate. Based on the results, some taxonomic problems in the Araceae, particularly the intergeneric relationships among Rhaphidophora, Epiprermnum and Monstera, and the infrageneric classification within Typhonium, are discussed. Palynological data seem to sup-port the treatment of Rhaphidophora, Epipremnum and Monstera as three independent genera.

Key words: Araceae, Pollen morphology, Scanning electron microscope