Bibliography Details:
Author(s):
Mori, S. A.
Boeke, Jef D.
Mori, S. A.
Boeke, Jef D.
Article or Chapter Title:
Chapter XII. Pollination. In the Lecythidaceae of La Fumée Mountain, French Guiana
Chapter XII. Pollination. In the Lecythidaceae of La Fumée Mountain, French Guiana
Year:
1987
1987
Journal or Book:
Memoirs of the New York Botanical Garden 44: 137-155
Memoirs of the New York Botanical Garden 44: 137-155
Notes:
Abstract
The flowers of Neotropical Lecythidaceae are pollinated almost exclusively by bees, which are rewarded for their visits by fertile pollen, fodder pollen, or nectar. In those species offering fertile pollen as a reward there is no intrafloral pollen differentiation, whereas-in those species offering fodder pollen-two types of pollen are found within the same flower. One type (fodder) is collected by the pollinator while the other type (fertile) is deposited on its head or back from where it is transferred to the stigma of subsequent flowers visited. In a few species, fertile pollen, fodder pollen, and nectar are all present in the same flower. These species may represent an important step in the evolution of nectar reward-producing Lecythidaceae from pollen reward-producing ancestors. Lecythis poiteaui, a night bloomer pollinated by bats, is the only species known to be non-bee-pollinated in the study area. Gustavia (the only actinomorphic-flowered genus at the study site) is visited by a wide variety of bees, although euglossines infrequently visit its flowers. Euglossines are important, however, in the pollination of zygomorphic-flowered species of Lecythidaceae, especially those producing nectar. We suggest that the flowers of this type of Lecythidaceae have coevolved with euglossine bees. Both are limited to the Neotropics and there is amazing overlap between the present-day distributions of each. Species of Lecythidaceae that have been studied are characteristically visited by more than one species of bee. However, most bee individuals appear to collect only pollen of Lecythidaceae during any one foraging flight. Closely related, sympatric species of Lecythidaceae may be pollinated by different species of bees if they flower at the same time. Conversely, species with the same habitat preferences, pollinators, and floral structure are often phenologically separated.
KEYWORDS = bat pollination, bee pollination, fodder pollen, French Guiana, La Fumée Mountain, Lecythidaceae
Abstract
The flowers of Neotropical Lecythidaceae are pollinated almost exclusively by bees, which are rewarded for their visits by fertile pollen, fodder pollen, or nectar. In those species offering fertile pollen as a reward there is no intrafloral pollen differentiation, whereas-in those species offering fodder pollen-two types of pollen are found within the same flower. One type (fodder) is collected by the pollinator while the other type (fertile) is deposited on its head or back from where it is transferred to the stigma of subsequent flowers visited. In a few species, fertile pollen, fodder pollen, and nectar are all present in the same flower. These species may represent an important step in the evolution of nectar reward-producing Lecythidaceae from pollen reward-producing ancestors. Lecythis poiteaui, a night bloomer pollinated by bats, is the only species known to be non-bee-pollinated in the study area. Gustavia (the only actinomorphic-flowered genus at the study site) is visited by a wide variety of bees, although euglossines infrequently visit its flowers. Euglossines are important, however, in the pollination of zygomorphic-flowered species of Lecythidaceae, especially those producing nectar. We suggest that the flowers of this type of Lecythidaceae have coevolved with euglossine bees. Both are limited to the Neotropics and there is amazing overlap between the present-day distributions of each. Species of Lecythidaceae that have been studied are characteristically visited by more than one species of bee. However, most bee individuals appear to collect only pollen of Lecythidaceae during any one foraging flight. Closely related, sympatric species of Lecythidaceae may be pollinated by different species of bees if they flower at the same time. Conversely, species with the same habitat preferences, pollinators, and floral structure are often phenologically separated.
KEYWORDS = bat pollination, bee pollination, fodder pollen, French Guiana, La Fumée Mountain, Lecythidaceae
Multimedia:
Pollination of species of Lecythidaceae at La Fumée Mountain, French Guiana.
Pollination of species of Lecythidaceae at La Fumée Mountain, French Guiana.