This is an image of pollen collected directly from a flower outside of Page House at Caltech on May 2, 2019 at 3:30 PM. The sample was obtained by brushing pollen from the stamen of the flower directly on to the glass slide. The magnification of the foldscope is 140x, meaning that the size of the pollen grain which appears to be about .4 cm wide in the image is about 30 micrometers. Some questions that are brought up by this image are those concerning the shape of the pollen. Why does pollen from different flowers have different shapes, and which shapes are the most optimal? Answers to this could possibly be found by collecting samples from several different plants and researching the types of pollinators used by each plant to see if there is any correlation. Certain shapes may stick better to certain pollinators, or may be more easily carried by the wind, or something of this sort. The plant is a hibiscus rosa-sinensis. #caltechbi1