Hibiscus rosa-sinensis pollen sample under direct light
Hibiscus rosa-sinensis orange flower also known as the Chinese Hibiscus
Location of Sample was in CALTECH Campus on South-West side of
Page House (Building in Photograph)
This sample was acquired in the California Institute of Technology (CALTECH) Campus in Pasadena, California. The sample was located in the flower bushes on the South-West side of Page House (undergraduate housing). The sample was obtained at 4:20 pm (PDT) on Tuesday, May 28, 2019.
In order to collect the sample, I cut the stem of one of the flowers to detach the flower from its roots. I then cut/detached 4-5 anthers (pollen producing part of the stamen of a flower) and placed them on the center of a clean microscope slide. I then placed a cover slip over the part of the microscope slide that had the pollen and secured the slip with a small piece of tape.
In the Foldscope image, I used a direct light source from a desk lamp to illuminate my sample. In the top of the image, we can see numerous pollen grains of a yellow color that are rounded/oval shaped and clustered together.
The flower that the pollen sample was obtained from had five large petals shaped like a trumpet, which is characteristic of a hibiscus plant. Specifically, this flower was of the species Hibiscus rosa-sinensis orange, also known as a Chinese hibiscus.
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