SciELO - Scientific Electronic Library Online

 
vol.51 issue1Invasion by Ligustrum lucidum (Oleaceae) in NW Argentina: early stage characteristics in different habitat typesCalvatia sporocristata sp. nov. (Gasteromycetes) from Costa Rica author indexsubject indexarticles search
Home Pagealphabetic serial listing  

Services on Demand

Journal

Article

Indicators

Related links

Share


Revista de Biología Tropical

On-line version ISSN 0034-7744Print version ISSN 0034-7744

Abstract

FLORES-PALACIOS, Alejandro  and  GARCIA-FRANCO, José G.. Effects of floral display and plant abundance on fruit production of Ryncholaelia glauca (Orchidaceae). Rev. biol. trop [online]. 2003, vol.51, n.1, pp.71-78. ISSN 0034-7744.

Flowering plant density can increase number of visits and fruit set in multi-flowering plants, however this aspect has not been studied on few flower species. We studied the effects of individual floral display and plant density on the fruit production of the epiphytic, moth-pollinated orchid, Ryncholaelia glauca, in an oak forest of Chavarrillo, Veracruz, Mexico. Species is nonautogamous, and produced one flower per flowering shoot each flowering season. We hypothesized that orchids with more flowering shoots and those on trees with clumps of conspecific should develop more fruits than isolated ones. R. glauca population flowers synchronously, and individual flowers last up to 18 days, with flowers closing rapidly after pollination. Individuals produced few flowers per year, although some plants developed flowers in both seasons and fewer of them developed fruits both years. There was no relationship between flower number per orchid, or per host tree, with the number of fruits developed per plant. Host trees with flowering and fruiting orchids were randomly dispersed and the pattern of distribution of flowering and fruiting plants was not related. Apparently, pollinators visit the flowers randomly, with no evidence of density dependence. The fruit set of R. glauca was as low as fruit set of multiflowered orchids moth pollinated, suggesting that fruit set on moth pollinated orchids could be independent of the number of flowers displayed.

Keywords : Floral display; abundance; reproduction; Ryncholaelia glauca; orchid; fruit set; spatial distribution.

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in English

 

Creative Commons License All the contents of this journal, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License