1. Reproductive Ecology of Rhynchanthus beesianus W. W. Smith (Zingiberaceae) in South Yunnan, China: A Ginger with Bird Pollination Syndrome.
- Author
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Jiang-Yun Gao, Zi-Hui Yang, Pan-Yu Ren, and Qing-Jun Li
- Subjects
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GINGER , *POLLINATION , *FLOWERS , *PLANT phenology - Abstract
Rhynchanthus beesianus W. W. Smith (Zingiberaceae) is an epiphytic tropical ginger with a very conspicuous floral display, but almost no fruit set under field conditions. The reproductive ecology encompassing phenology, floral biology, and pollination and breeding systems was investigated in an evergreen broad-leaved forest in Yunnan Province, Southwest China. The flowers possess a typical bird pollination syndrome, but no effective pollinators were observed during 138 h of observation. Female Black-breasted Sunbird ( Aethopyga saturata) and bumblebees visited R. beesianus regularly, but they all played roles as nectar robbers. No fruit was found in the bagging treatment, and fruit set following manual self-pollination ((57.55 ± 4.08)%) was comparable with cross-pollination ((64.32 ± 4.42)%), suggesting that R. beesianus is self-compatible but spontaneous self-pollination in this species does not occur. Seed set of open-pollination ((26.42 ± 3.11)%) was significantly lower than manual self-pollination ((73.41 ± 4.16)%) and cross-pollination ((75.56 ± 4.52)%), confirming that R. beesianus was dependent on animals for fertilization and suffered a serious pollinator-limitation. (Managing editor: Wei Wang) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2006
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