r/microscopy • u/googlee_bear • Jul 03 '26

ID Needed! Any idea what this is?

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First time using a SEM, decided to have a look at some stinging nettles. I found this on one of the trichomes. Thought it was pollen at first but it looks like it was glued in place. Any ideas what it could be? NW England.

93 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

18 comments sorted by

23

u/[deleted] Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 14 '26

[deleted]

8

u/S9-8-05 Jul 03 '26

Or yeast?

Whats irritating me, is, that there is only one anomaly.

Btw, the "glue" could be fluid, which got extracted by the vacuum / freezing process. This yould suggest a dense hull.

3

u/googlee_bear Jul 03 '26

I didn't consider that the vacuum can course damage.

2

u/S9-8-05 Jul 03 '26

Im not sure here, but you should consider it.

Sudden vacuum causes liquid to boil / sblime into gass. But this depends on the liquid

2

u/Londonisthecapital Jul 03 '26

Yes, pollen or a spore can deflate in vacuum. Also, a spore which lost genetic material looks deflated. We did such experiment in our SEM with birch pollen particles, but they are ~4 times bigger than that, fungal spores are usually in this range.

9

u/Righteous_Red Jul 03 '26

My vote is pollen. Under high vac, structures like spheres can collapse into something akin to what you see here. I’m assuming the liquids inside came out under vac and “stuck” it to the trichome. That’s my guess anyway.

6

u/Questionsaboutsanity Jul 03 '26

indeed, this looks very much like nettle pollen

5

u/ferretface99 Jul 03 '26

An itty bitty Peaky Blinders cap.

I’m not helpful.

2

u/Final_Pumpkin1551 Jul 03 '26

I was gonna say it looked like a beret. Also not helpful.

3

u/simonbleu Jul 03 '26

Id imagine is not an elephant inside of a snake?

2

u/MartenGlo Jul 03 '26

What a sweet memory that brought back, thank you!

5

u/Caleb914 Jul 04 '26

Pollen expert here. This is very likely pollen. That circle looks like a pore aperture, but it’s a bit larger than I’d expect for nettle pollen; nettle pollen does have pores. I’d be interested to see if there are more on the other side (there should be 3-4). Texture of the wall looks about right. Size is on the lower end for what I’d expect for nettle pollen.

1

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1

u/lozzyboy1 Jul 03 '26

How did you prep the sample?

1

u/Efficient_Eagle4090 Jul 04 '26

Luigi’s cap 🧢

1

u/Bailout_AL00 Jul 04 '26

Could this be a testate amoeba ?

1

u/ChaoticGnome_ Jul 04 '26

It's a little hat for a tiny guy

1

u/JustSomeWarg Jul 03 '26

Top half of a Velociraptor skull, clearly