BACKGROUND In many plant species, pollination syndromes predict the most effective pollinator. However, other floral visitors may also offer effective pollination services and promote mixed pollination systems. Several species of the species-rich Penstemon (Plantaginaceae) exhibit a suite of floral traits that suggest adaptation for pollination by both hymenopterans and hummingbirds. Transition...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Studies of the effects of pollination on floral scent and bee visitation remain rare, particularly in agricultural crops. To fill this gap, the hypothesis that bee visitation to flowers decreases after pollination through reduced floral volatile emissions in highbush blueberries, Vaccinium corymbosum, was tested. Other sources of variation in floral emissions and the role of...

Gerbera(Gerbera jamesonii) from the family of Asteraceae is regarded as one of the best cut flowers in the world. Despite of the publicity of Gerbera’s cut flowers, they have a short postharvest life. The objective of the present study was to study the replacement feasibility and the comparison of thymol (isolated from zataria), and essential oils of peppermint and rosemary (200, 400 and 600 mg...

Australian crab spiders Thomisus spectabilis ambush pollinating insects, such as honeybees (Apis mellifera) on flowers, and can change their body colour between yellow and white. It is traditionally assumed that the spiders change their colour to match the flower colour, thus rendering them cryptic to insect prey. Here, we test this assumption combining state-of-the-art knowledge of bee vision ...

Unusual gender types in some Pistacia species are considered as useful material for pistachio breeding. In this report, the inflorescence characteristics of an exceptional monoecious Pistacia atlantica Desf. tree population were presented. The gender distribution was highly complex and variable among the trees. Some of the branches bore only female or male inflorescences. Also, some branches bo...

Two experiments were designed to evaluate the addition of essential oils to preservative solution and subsequent effects on postharvest quality and vase life of Gladiolus ‘Sorati’ cut flowers. In first experiment, the solutions of savory (Satureja hortensis.), ajowan (Trachyspermum ammi) and thyme (Thymus vulgaris) were applied at the concentrations of 2, 4, and 6 (mg L−1), distilled water + 2%...

Nectar-robbing has the potential to strongly affect male and female reproductive fitness of plants. One example of nectar theft is that shown by striped-squirrels (Tamiops swinhoei) on a number of ginger species, including Alpinia roxburghii and A. kwangsiensis (Zingiberaceae). In this study, we used a fluorescent dye as a pollen analogue, and measured fruit and seed output, to test the effect ...

Nectar of nocturnal flowers may be used by diurnal species that occasionally accomplish secondary pollination. Thirteen bird species visited Caryocar brasiliense flowers in central Brazil. There is a temporal separation between nectarivores and non-nectarivores species. Nectarivores birds visited flowers late in the morning, while other species appear earlier. C. brasiliense nectar may be an al...

The stability of the mutualism between figs and their pollinator wasps depends on the patterns of seed and wasp production. In Ficus maxima, a passively pollinated monoecious fig, we estimated the correlations among different flower characteristics and determined their relationships with pollination success and pollinator oviposition. Across flowers, stigma length shows an allometric relationsh...