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The meiosis in pollen mother cells of Picea abies from autochtonous stands on the highland slopes in northern Sweden was studied. Three stands from different altitudes in Austria were also included in this investigation. On the mountain slope within the Sälen area, Sweden, twigs were transferred from one altitude to another. In this way, the pollen mother cells were exposed to different temperatures. A temperature of ‐2°C seemed to be a threshold temperature above which no induction of irregularities took place. The data obtained suggested that the amount of damage increased with decreasing temperature, resulting in a complete collapse of the meiotic division at approximately ‐10°C. The stages diakinesis—anaphase I and metaphase II—telophase II were found to be the most sensitive ones.