Pollination Syndromes

Examine a variety of organisms and a plethora of their parts, and you'll see: form matches function. Flowers are no exception. As the reproductive parts of angiosperms, they are adapted to efficiently interact with pollinators, ensuring that pollen gets dispersed and ovules get fertilized.

Pollination syndromes are suites of floral traits associated with specialization for particular types of pollinators. They include features such as flower shape, size and orientation, color and scent, nectar amount and composition, and time of flowering. While most flowers are visited by numerous types of potential pollinators, not all visitors are equally good at getting the job done. The most efficient pollinators will exert the most selective pressure for flowers to conform to their features and preferences. Thus, while you can't list every potential visitor of a flower after cataloguing its features, by recognizing the pollination syndrome, you can make educated guesses about which visitors likely do most of the actual pollinating.

Insects are the most common pollinators, though wind pollination is a successful strategy for the grasses, sedges, and many temperate trees. Flowers pollinated by vertebrates are uncommon, though bird pollinated flowers are more common than bat pollinated flowers.

Chiropterophilous flowers are "bat-loving." Typical traits include large size, tough texture, a cupped shape, copious but dilute nectar production, and long brush-like clusters of stamens. They are held away from the foliage to provide a clear flight path. They typically bloom at night, have a pale color, and odd (to humans) scents, such as fruit-like or yeasty. Many are shaped like acoustic mirrors, to be quickly found via echolocation. Several economically important plants are bat pollinated, including bananas and durian.

Ornithophilous flowers are "bird-loving." Typical traits include large size, a long, tubular shape, and copious but dilute nectar production. They are held away from the foliage to provide a clear flight path. They bloom during the day, have bright colors (red, orange, blue, yellow), and no scent. For example, these cardinal flowers offer sugary treats and a good forehead-dusting of pollen to visiting hummingbirds.

Hawk moths (Sphingidae) are an important group of nocturnal pollinators, particularly in the tropics. While there are several day-flying species, the nocturnal species drive the classic set of floral features associated with moth pollination: pale, intensely fragrant, night blooming flowers with long, narrow tubes or spurs, positioned to provide a clear flight path for a hovering pollinator. For example, the long nectar spurs of these Corydalis flowers are a perfect fit for a sphinx proboscis.

Publicado el mayo 19, 2022 03:01 MAÑANA por m_whitson m_whitson

Comentarios

No hay comentarios todavía.

Agregar un comentario

Acceder o Crear una cuenta para agregar comentarios.