Abstract: In this paper, the pollen of Sargentodoxa, Akebia and Holboellia has been examined by LM, SEM and TEM. The result showed that the pollen of three genera stated above is similar fundamentally in shape, size, aperture type and even sculpture. However, as far as the structure of pollen wall is concerned, Sargentodoxa is different to some extent from those of Akebia and Holboellia by having endexine which consists of a solid and homogeneous (uniform) layer, but the endexine of Akebia and Holboellia consists of an inner lamellar or plate-like unit and an outer sol-id unit. Based on pollen morphology especially the pollen wall ultrastructure and other characters such as fruit and ovular number, the authors support that Sargentodoxa be treated as a separate family Sargentodoxaceae.

Key words: Pollen morphology