PALYNOLOGY AND PLEISTOCENE ECOLOGY 373 



plates — small, densely spaced processes in Q. petraea, larger, less densely 

 spaced processes in Q. robur — are constant or not. Pollen grains of Tilia 

 cordata can be easily distinguished from those of T. platyphylla. 



Furthermore: what is the cytotaxonomic status of Geranium silvaticum 

 with comparatively small flowers and pollen grains (Erdtman, unpubl., 

 specimens from Jarvso, Sweden, 1961); and what is that of the large luxuriant 

 specimens of Sedum acre, Hammerfest, Norway, etc. ? 



If someone asks: "Have these things anything to do with the theme 'Paly- 

 nology and Pleistocene ecology" (with special reference to Iceland)"? the 

 reply is: "Yes and no"'. My intention has been to stress the importance of 

 basic pollen morphological research, preferably in connection with cytological 

 and cytotaxonomic studies; also to stress the desirability of investigations 

 into the pollen grains and spores of statocrats as well as of apocrats, in 

 surface samples of various kinds; finally, the importance of pollen statistical 

 studies not only of large polliniferous deposits (as in bogs), where pollen 

 grains of statocrats necessarily dominate, but also of podzolized soils and of 

 any small, local, in one respect or another "queer" deposits of peats and 

 sediments. Here interesting, unexpected finds may be made. The palynologist 

 in charge must act as a pathfinder. He will perhaps go astray if he pays too 

 much attention to the routine palynological approach: new problems demand 

 new methods. This may be illustrated by a few words on the debut of 

 palynology in Swedish criminology. Four experts, among them a pollen 

 analyst, working independently of one another, arrived at the same conclusion : 

 some dirt adhering to the clothes of a murdered person could not have come 

 from the place where the corpse was found. This statement was of importance 

 to the court. Later another palynologist was asked to undertake a control 

 investigation. As a result he was able to testify to the great care and skill 

 with which his colleague had accomplished his analyses. His conclusion, 

 however, was contrary to that arrived at by the four experts: The dirt, or part 

 of it, must have come from near the very place where the corpse was found. 

 This conclusion was based on the fact that pollen grains of Trifolium prafeiise 

 as well as zygospores of a subterranean phycomycete [Endogone sp.; det. by 

 Professor J, A. Nannfeldt, Uppsala) were found in the dirt on the clothes as 

 well as in one or two soil samples from near the place where the corpse was 

 lying. They were not found in any other samples. Compared to these findings, 

 the relative frequencies of tree pollen grains and the locally highly varied non- 

 tree pollen grains must, in my opinion, be considered of minor significance, 

 (cf. Fries in Nordisk Kriminalteknisk Tidskrift 31, 1961; Erdtman, ibid. 

 32, 1962). 



Does Endogone occur in Iceland ? What information can be derived from 

 tracing the history of Icelandic apocrats? What is the importance of "apo- 

 cracy" in the development of biota? Did early Angiosperms live as apocrats, 

 leaving practically no fossil record? Did some apocrats suddenly succeed, 



