D
ETERMINING
S
TAGE
OF
M
ICROSPORE
D
EVELOPMENT
For most species, stage of microspore development can be determined by “squashing” an entire
anther in aceto-carmine or propiono-carmine and then observing the preparation under the lowpower
objective of a light microscope. The early uninucleate microspore is lightly staining with a
centrally located nucleus. As the uninucleate microspore develops, its size increases and a large