Albanian j. agric. sci. 2014; (Special edition) Agricultural University of Tirana RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access) The palynomorphological characteristics of Anthemis in Albania ANXHELA DAUTI 1* , GEZIM KAPIDANI 2 , BLERINA PUPULEKU 1 , NIKOLETA KALLAJXHIU 1 , ADMIR JANCE 1 1 University “Aleksandër Xhuvani”, FNS, Department of Biology and Chemistry, Elbasan, Albania, 2 University of Tirana, FNS, Department of Biology, Tirane, Albania, * Corresponding author Email: dauti.anxhela@yahoo.com Abstract The genus Anthemis L. is the second largest genus of the tribe Anthemideae of Asteraceae family. It comprises about 210 species, distributed widely in Europe, south-west Asia, north and north-east Africa and extending into extreme southern Arabia and tropical east Africa. The plants of genus Anthemis are annual and perennial herbs with beautiful and attractive flowers. The article includes the palynomorphological study of the main members of genus Anthemis in Albania. In this article submitted comparative features of the species: Anthemis altissima , Anthemis carpatica, Anthemis chia, Anthemis orientalis, Anthemis tomentosa, Anthemis triumfetti, Anthemis arvensis and Anthemis tinctoria. The material for the study was obtained in National Herbarium in Tirana. For the study of palynomorphological features are analyzed 31 pollen grains from each species. The treatment of material is made with acetolysis method and basic fuchsine. The fixing of pollen grains is made with glycerin gelatin. The study and photos of pollen grains are realized with light microscope with 1000x power. The pollen grains of plants above are spheroidal or oblate spheroidal, three furrows three pores. The exine appears thick and has two-layers. The sculpture of exine is echinate. The work is part of the palynological study of general members in Asteraceae family in our country. Key Words: Anthemis, palynomorphological, pollen grains, exine, spines. 1. Introduction The genus Anthemis is part of the family Compositae Giseke, named as Asteraceae Dumort. The name of the genus came from Anthemidae Cass, a tribe which includes 109 genuses [2] by adding Castrilanthemum shown from Vogt & Oberprieler [21]. According to the latest reconstruction phylogenetic of the family Asteraceae, Anthemideae is a member of subfamily Asteroidea and forms the sister group of Asterea [6]. Heywood & Humphries [8] tell about 130 species in this genus, while the latest estimates give us a number of 210 species annual, biennial or perennial [2,3] by ranking the genus Anthemis on the second genus of the biggest tribe Anthemideae. The genus Anthemis is related closely with the genus Matricaria L, Chamaemelum Mill, Tripleurospermum Schultz Bip and like this genus is known as Camomil. Some species of Anthemis are economically very important by using them as herbal tea to cure of anxiety, stomach disorders, insomnia, toothache; some of them are also used as insecticides. The description of pollen grains of the genus Anthemis is made for the first time by Wodehouse [22, 23, 24] and then by many other researchers [18, 5, 12, 19, 9, 7]. In our country before is made the description of pollen grains of two species Anthemis: Anthemis tinctoria [10] dhe Anthemis arvensis [15]. This article includes the palynomorphological study of general members of the genus Anthemis in Albania and there are shown comparative palynological features of species: Anthemis altissima, Anthemis carpatica, Anthemis chia, Anthemis orientalis, Anthemis tomentosa, Anthemis triumfetti, Anthemis arvensis and Anthemis tinctoria. The study of the palynological of these species is a fragment of the study about the palynomorphological characteristics of general members in Asteraceae family in our country. In order to accomplish the quantitative analysis of palynomorphological features, 31 pollen grains are taken in consideration. This study is focus on the type of pollen grains, shape, size, characteristics of furrow, sculpture of exine, etc. For the study of pollen grains is used light microscope Motic B1series. The measurements are performed with 1000X power and the photos are taken with 1000X power. 2. Material and methods The material for the study was obtained in National Herbarium in Tirana. To achieve the study 95