Reproductive biology ofPlantago L. III. Floral adaptation to wind pollination inPlantago lagopus L.

1990 ◽  
Vol 100 (6) ◽  
pp. 393-398
Author(s):  
Namrata Sharma ◽  
Pushpa Koul ◽  
A K Koul
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Biology ◽  
Wind Pollination

scholarly journals Understanding plant reproductive diversity

2010 ◽  
Vol 365 (1537) ◽  
pp. 99-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Spencer C. H. Barrett
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Biology ◽  
Flowering Plants ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Wind Pollination ◽  
Evolutionary Patterns ◽  
Evolutionary Transitions ◽  
Floral Diversity ◽  
Self Fertilization ◽  
Personal Reflections ◽  
Animal Pollination

Flowering plants display spectacular floral diversity and a bewildering array of reproductive adaptations that promote mating, particularly outbreeding. A striking feature of this diversity is that related species often differ in pollination and mating systems, and intraspecific variation in sexual traits is not unusual, especially among herbaceous plants. This variation provides opportunities for evolutionary biologists to link micro-evolutionary processes to the macro-evolutionary patterns that are evident within lineages. Here, I provide some personal reflections on recent progress in our understanding of the ecology and evolution of plant reproductive diversity. I begin with a brief historical sketch of the major developments in this field and then focus on three of the most significant evolutionary transitions in the reproductive biology of flowering plants: the pathway from outcrossing to predominant self-fertilization, the origin of separate sexes (females and males) from hermaphroditism and the shift from animal pollination to wind pollination. For each evolutionary transition, I consider what we have discovered and some of the problems that still remain unsolved. I conclude by discussing how new approaches might influence future research in plant reproductive biology.

Reproductive biology of the dioecious understorey palm Chamaedorea radicalis in a Mexican cloud forest: pollination vector, flowering phenology and female fecundity

2004 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 369-376 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric J. Berry ◽  
David L. Gorchov
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Biology ◽  
Fruit Set ◽  
Cloud Forest ◽  
Wind Pollination ◽  
Female Size ◽  
Female Fecundity ◽  
Male Density ◽  
Sexual Composition ◽  
Chamaedorea Radicalis ◽  
Pollen Vector

The reproductive biology of the dioecious understorey palm Chamaedorea radicalis was investigated in order to identify the primary pollen vector and quantify the relationship between female fecundity and local neighbourhood sexual composition. The study was conducted in a montane mesophyll forest within the El Cielo Biosphere Reserve, Tamaulipas, Mexico. The species is considered vulnerable in Mexico and there are concerns about the sustainability of leaf harvest. We determined that wind is the primary pollen vector, based both on floral and pollen morphological characters, and on a pollinator exclosure experiment. Successful wind pollination of this understorey palm was facilitated by the extended flowering period of males, which allows one male to be a source of pollen to receptive females for as long as a month. The number of flowers and fruits borne on a female were dependent on female size, however, no size parameter correlated well with fruit set. Fruit set was also not dependent on local sexual composition, male density or distance to the nearest male, suggesting that in this study area female reproductive success is not limited by the availability of pollen.

scholarly journals Darwin's legacy: the forms, function and sexual diversity of flowers

2010 ◽  
Vol 365 (1539) ◽  
pp. 351-368 ◽  
Author(s):  
Spencer C. H. Barrett
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Biology ◽  
Mating Systems ◽  
Charles Darwin ◽  
Pollen Dispersal ◽  
Floral Biology ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Wind Pollination ◽  
Sexual Diversity ◽  
Conceptual Foundation ◽  
Evolutionary Transitions

Charles Darwin studied floral biology for over 40 years and wrote three major books on plant reproduction. These works have provided the conceptual foundation for understanding floral adaptations that promote cross-fertilization and the mechanisms responsible for evolutionary transitions in reproductive systems. Many of Darwin's insights, gained from careful observations and experiments on diverse angiosperm species, remain remarkably durable today and have stimulated much current research on floral function and the evolution of mating systems. Here I review Darwin's seminal contributions to reproductive biology and provide an overview of the current status of research on several of the main topics to which he devoted considerable effort, including the consequences to fitness of cross- versus self-fertilization, the evolution and function of stylar polymorphisms, the adaptive significance of heteranthery, the origins of dioecy and related gender polymorphisms, and the transition from animal pollination to wind pollination. Post-Darwinian perspectives on floral function now recognize the importance of pollen dispersal and male outcrossed siring success in shaping floral adaptation. This has helped to link work on pollination biology and mating systems, two subfields of reproductive biology that remained largely isolated during much of the twentieth century despite Darwin's efforts towards integration.

scholarly journals Notes on the natural history of Stillingia aquatica (Euphorbiaceae): with special attention to reproductive biology

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 183-199
Author(s):  
George Rogers
Keyword(s):  
Natural History ◽  
Mating System ◽  
Reproductive Biology ◽  
Woody Plants ◽  
Wind Pollination ◽  
Mixed Mating ◽  
Wet Season ◽  
Mixed Mating System ◽  
Close Physical Proximity ◽  
History Of

Stillingia aquatica, a wetland shrub in the Southeastern U.S., was profiled in Southeast Florida from a natural history standpoint. The stem has exceptionally lightweight wood in common with other periodically root-inundated woody plants. Pseudowhorled tufts of conspicuous yellow leaves subtend the similarly colored spikelike thyrsoid inflorescences. The plants are monoecious, self-compatible, protogynous with respect to inflorescences, and with a mixed mating system. After a pistillate-only phase, pistillate and staminate phases overlap in time, and are positioned in close physical proximity within inflorescences. Then follows a prolonged phase of only staminate flowers plus maturing fruits. The inflorescences attract ants, bees, and especially abundant wasps, switching from mixed bees and wasps in the dry season to essentially just wasps in the wet season. Wind-pollination is minimal to none. Ants are often abundant in the inflorescences and believed to contribute to geitonogamy but are not necessary for fruitset. Agamospermy is none to negligible. The seeds often fail, with the failure rates varying between populations and between individual plants.

Fine structure and possible functions of the hermaphrodite duct of some pulmonate snails (Mollusca: Gastropoda)

1990 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 68-69
Author(s):  
Alan N. Hodgson
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Transmission Electron Microscopy ◽  
Fine Structure ◽  
Seminal Vesicle ◽  
Reproductive Biology ◽  
Light Microscope ◽  
Light Microscope Level ◽  
Transmission Electron ◽  
Standard Techniques

The hermaphrodite duct of pulmonate snails connects the ovotestis to the fertilization pouch. The duct is typically divided into three zones; aproximal duct which leaves the ovotestis, the middle duct (seminal vesicle) and the distal ovotestis duct. The seminal vesicle forms the major portion of the duct and is thought to store sperm prior to copulation. In addition the duct may also play a role in sperm maturation and degredation. Although the structure of the seminal vesicle has been described for a number of snails at the light microscope level there appear to be only two descriptions of the ultrastructure of this tissue. Clearly if the role of the hermaphrodite duct in the reproductive biology of pulmonatesis to be understood, knowledge of its fine structure is required.Hermaphrodite ducts, both containing and lacking sperm, of species of the terrestrial pulmonate genera Sphincterochila, Levantina, and Helix and the marine pulmonate genus Siphonaria were prepared for transmission electron microscopy by standard techniques.

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