UNIT 6

Plants & Pollen

Objectives
by the end of this unit you should be able to:

Distinguish between pollen and spores

Define a pollen fingerprint
Classify the different organisms that produce pollen and
spores
Compare and contrast the female and male reproductive
parts in plants
Distinguish between gymnosperms and angiosperms
Summarize the different methods of pollination and their
relevance in solving crimes
Identify the different ways pollen & spores are dispersed
State characteristics of pollen and spores that are
important for forensic studies
Summarize how pollen and spore evidence is collected at a
crime scene
Describe how pollen and spore samples are analyzed and
evaluated

What type of evidence is

pollen?

What type of evidence is

pollen?

Trace evidence
Circumstantial evidence
Biological evidence

What are two main factors

that investigators may be
able to determine by
studying the pollen or spores
found on a victim/at a crime
scene?

What are two main factors

that investigators may be
able to determine by studying
the pollen or spores found on
a victim/at a crime scene?

Season in which the crime

was committed

Geographic location of the

crime scene

Vocabulary words
pg. 107 in text, 10 minutes to
complete

Angiosperm

Gymnosperm

Palynology

Forensic palynology

Pollen fingerprint/Pollen profile

Pollen grain

Spore

Pollination

Stamen

Pistil

Exine

Vocabulary words
not in book

Plant assemblage a recognizable

assemblage of plant species occurring
in a given geographic region and are
distinct from adjacent assemblages.

Datum point* A specific, fixed location

from which all measurements on a site
are made or to which they are
calibrated.

Subdatum point* Fixed locations

measured with respect to the datum
point with the purpose of mapping out
an area for searching.

How do forensic scientists determine

where a crime occurred if the body was
moved from the scene of the crime?

Trace evidence

Plant material can provide clues about a

where a crime occurred (geographic
location).

Plant material can also provide clues about

when a crime occurred (season, time of day).

Specialized forensic fields

Forensic botany study of plants and plant

ecology to help solve a crime.

Forensic palynology a subdivision of

botany; study of pollen and spore evidence
to help solve a crime.

How do forensic scientists determine

where a crime occurred if the body was
moved from the scene of the crime?

A pollen grain is the male gamete of a

seed plant.
A spore is a reproductive cell that can
grow into a new organism without uniting
with another cell.

Locards principle of
exchange relative to
pollen/spores:

The transfer of pollen or spores

between a victim & suspect
and/or a crime scene.

Pollen fingerprint

The number and type of pollen grains found in a

geographic area at a particular time of year.

By understanding pollen production patterns for

plants in a given area, one can predict the pollen
fingerprint they would expect in samples from
that area.

Plants
Nonseed vs seed plants
Nonseed

Seed

Ferns
Mosses
Liverworts
Horsetails
Club mosses

Gymnosperms:
Cycads
Ginkgoes
Conifers
Angiosperms
(flowering
plants)

Cladogram of plant groups

Flowering
plants
Cone-bearing
plants
Ferns and
their relatives
Mosses and
their relatives
Seeds
Water-Conducting
(Vascular) Tissue
Green algae
ancestor

Flowers; Seeds
Enclosed in Fruit

Plant diversity
Cone-bearing
plants
760 species

Ferns and
their relatives
11,000 species

Mosses and
their relatives
15,600 species

Flowering
plants
235,000 species