The Nikon MicroscopyU confocal microscopy image gallery was created with a PCM-2000 confocal scanning system interfaced to a Nikon Eclipse E600 upright microscope. Images were recorded in successive z-axis serial sections with C-Imaging Systems software with excitation illumination provided by an argon-ion and/or a helium-neon laser.

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Lilies are among the world's oldest cultivated flowering plants and typically thrive in warm temperate and tropical climates. Sharing a rich history with mankind, lilies have been revered since the dawn of civilization as a symbol of light. The three backward-curving petals are etched in vases and artifacts dating back to the time of Ancient Egypt's Middle Kingdom. Later, Greek and Roman brides wore crowns of interlacing lilies as a symbol of purity, a tradition that continues in lily-filled bridal bouquets. Raised as a food source in Asia Minor, the bulb of the Madonna lily was cultivated for use as a medicinal ointment as early as the second millennium.

The most popular lilies, prized as ornamentals, are fragrant and grow colorful flowers that have petals usually flecked with dark specks. This genus celebrates such beauties as the Tiger Lily, native to Japan and China, the Japanese Golden Ray Lily, the Eurasian Madonna Lily, and the Turk's Cap Lily

Anthers are the male reproductive structures of flowering plants that produce pollen. Each anther is deeply bi-lobed and each lobe contains two structures called microsporangia. At the center of each microsporangium are numerous mother pollen cells that, after undergoing meiosis, form microspores or pollen grains. Nutrients are provided to a developing cell by columnar shaped tapetum cells that surround each microsporangium. During the late prophase stage, the tapetum cells are usually microscopically visible. Upon maturing, the pollen grains are released by the anther and made available for transport to a female reproductive organ called the stigma.

The lilium, with its definitive reproductive stages, is a favored specimen for illustrating normal cell division. Of special interest are cross sections that present anthers during different stages of development, especially evolution of mature pollen grains from microspore mother cells.