Seed production of flowering plants is influenced by water availability and pollen deposition, but is there an interaction between these factors?
Continue reading Interactive effects of drought and pollen intensity on seed production
It’s not just a matter of number of visits, a pollinator has to arrive at the right time too.
Continue reading Honeybees much less effective than native pollinators for Lepechinia floribunda
Distyly is a well-known floral syndrome, first identified by Charles Darwin, characterised by the flowers within a population showing reciprocal placement of the anthers and stigma. In a recent study published in AoB plants, Jiang et al. use distyly as a model to determine how a key floral syndrome is shaped by nature. Primula chungensis, a distylous species with simultaneous homo-, short- and long-styled morphs, exhibits some variations in the length of style. Using this species, Jiang et al. found that the stigma captured more compatible pollen as the separation between the stigma of the pollen receiver and the anther...
Continue reading Variation in the degree of reciprocal herkogamy affects the degree of legitimate pollination in a distylous species, Primula chungensis
Humans have transformed landscapes, leaving remnant habitats embedded within a complex matrix. For many plants, the associated factors of decreased population size and increased land-use intensity surrounding them are expected to disrupt plant-pollinator interactions, limiting seed production unless plants can compensate through self-pollination. Spigler shows that increased reliance on self-pollination is predicted in small populations surrounded by intense development in the biennial Sabatia angularis (Gentianaceae). The roles of pollinators vs. antagonists are considered, together with heterospecific pollen transfer, and the resources that contribute to shaping this pattern. The results point toward self-pollen limitation and resource availability influencing the ability to...
Continue reading Pollen limitation and reproductive assurance in a fragmented landscape
Honey bees are good pollinators – but they may pose a threat to endangered plant species.
Continue reading All bees are equal – but some are more equal than others
Large floral displays attract pollinators but can also promote among-flower self-pollination (geitonogamy). Morales et al. assess the effects of the presence of sterile flowers and fertile-flower display size in Leopoldia comosa, a spring-flowering Mediterranean geophyte. They find that the presence of bright-coloured sterile flowers at the top of the inflorescence promotes female reproductive success by increasing long-distance pollinator attraction and visitation to fertile flowers, without the need to expose many fertile flowers simultaneously. Sterile flowers thus improve pollination quality by promoting pollen export and import, while limiting the mating costs of geitonogamy associated with large fertile displays.
Continue reading Sterile flowers promote female reproductive successBotany One is a blog run by the Annals of Botany Company, a non-profit educational charity.
In addition to Botany One, the company currently publishes three journals, the Annals of Botany, AoB PLANTS, and in silico Plants.
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