What is "tricolpate"

a. (context botany palynology of a pollen English) Having three grooves, or colpus, on each grain n. (context botany taxonomy English) A plant with tricolpate (three-grooved) pollen

Tricolpate refers to a subclassification of the " Eudicot" monophyletic group, the "true dicotyledons" (which are distinguished from all other flowering plants by their Tricolpate pollen structure). The number of Pollen grain furrows or pores helps classify the flowering plants, with eudicots having three colpi (tricolpate), and other groups having one sulcus.

Pollen apertures are any modification of the wall of the pollen grain. These modifications include thinning, ridges and pores, they serve as an exit for the pollen contents and allow shrinking and swelling of the grain caused by changes in moisture content. The elongated apertures/ furrows in the pollen grain are called colpi (singular colpus), which, along with pores, are a chief criterion for identifying the pollen classes.