The pollen are largish round balls. The foldscope image shows the pollen held together by some other clear structure.

The pollen was taken from one of the red flowers pictured at 11:07pm PDT from a bush in the Athenaeum parking lot, 551 S Hill Ave, Pasadena CA 91106. The flower was removed and then right before imaging the stamen were removed and then pollen was shaken onto the foldscope slide. A lamp was used as the backlight.

The balls may be 1 or many pollen, I did not see any that were broken up from a quick sweep. To deduce this I would crush the pollen and see if it subdivides. I am not sure what the structure is holding the pollen together is. I would see if other plants have similar structures or examine the stamen itself and see how it attaches the pollen.

#caltechbi1