#30 Murder in the Bloom : Palynological Microscopy I
- Aiza Jamil
- Aug 13
- 3 min read
Updated: Sep 8
Hello, and welcome back, folks, to another episode of STEM on the Streets! If you are new here, my name is Aiza, and this is my partner, CAI (crime AI). Together, we stroll through the criminal-ridden streets of STEM!
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ELMBROOK, April 1- An unexpected incident has turned the peaceful village of Elmbrook into a place of panic or havoc. Maren Alcott, 54, was found murdered inside her flower shop. Found on the floor near the window with the doors locked from the inside, authorities have reported that there were no signs of forced entry, nor were any valuables or money stolen.
Police responding to the scene discovered Alcott’s body underneath fallen bouquets with severe injuries to the head.
Working on the case, Detective Rowan Keats of EPD (the Elmbrook Police Department) was able to observe the “suspiciously clean” crime scene. There were no fingerprints, broken glass, or anything that could have pointed to clear directions. However, Keats was able to recover a set of baby pink flower petals, and upon closer inspection, the baby pink flower petals were not from the shop’s regular inventory.
According to a police statement, a fine yellow dust was collected from the petals. A few lab analyses were run, and a forensic botanist found that the particles were pollen grains with a “prolate spheroidal in shape with a subtriangular amb”.
The species was identified as centaurium erythraea, a flower that was not naturally grown in the land and only available in a greenhouse owned by Victor Crain, 47, a rival florist with a documented history of disputes with Alcott.
Investigators allege that the pollen evidence linked Crain to the crime scene. A search warrant executed at Crain’s property concluded that Crain was present at the crime scene, as there were gardening gloves and a hammer hidden, covered in the same pollen. Crain was arrested and charged with first-degree murder.
“It wasn’t fingerprints or surveillance footage that broke this case,” Detective Keats told reporters. “It was the pollen — a silent witness that never lies.”
Hey CAI, I was just reading the news-
(✿◡‿◡) CAI: Wait, weren't you supposed to be studying physics?
I was, but did you hear what happened?
(✿◡‿◡) CAI: No, but you should be studying physics.
Shhhhhh, CAI, that is unimportant-
( – ⌓ – )CAI: This is why you are failing physics.
Anyway, the news was very interesting, about how palynological microscopy solved a crime case!
It may seem surprising, but pollen isn’t only that yellow dust that makes you sneeze in spring; in forensics, it is like the GPS tracker of nature. Palynological microscopy is the fine art (and science) of looking and identifying pollen and spores to figure out where something or someone has been.
So here is pollen’s little hocus-pocus: pollen grains are covered in sporopollenin (big word? I know, right), a terribly tough, almost immortal substance compared to most organic matter. This means it can cling to your clothes, shoes, and even your hair, despite you trying to wash it off.
And the coolest bit? Every single plant species has a different shape, size, surface texture, and spores or furrows when looked at under a microscope. So pollen is kinda like a microscopic fingerprint.
In a forensic case, this is how the process usually goes:
First, the evidence is collected. Swabs, vacuums, or tweezers are used to extract pollen from clothes, soil, car mats, and whatever else it might be on.
Second, the pollen is purified by adding chemicals like potassium hydroxide or hydrochloric acid to clean away debris so that only the pollen’s outer shell remains.
Third, this is what I would say is perhaps the most exciting bit: getting to see the pollen under a microscope. Light microscopes do the trick for most, but a SEM (scanning electron microscopy) can reveal greater detail from the tiniest spike to every groove.
Then, finally, the pollen fingerprint is matched. There are pollen databases such as PalDat where images are compared to reference collections to be able to match which plant it came from, and by extension, where the plant is found. However, even though a species of plant may share pollen grains, there may be some slight variations, but the main shape, size, and shell patterns remain.
This is a very big game changer in the world of forensics and crime because plants aren’t evenly spread out everywhere, as many species need specific conditions and climates, elevations, or even a single location to grow. Therefore, if you have a plant’s pollen on you, then you have most certainly been near it. It is how investigators tie suspects to crime scenes, even if they swore on their grandma that they were never there.
Well, that is all for today, folks. Next episode, we will be diving further into the world of forensic botany.
This is Aiza Jamil signing out!
I am a forensics sleuth. What's your mystery to solve?
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