Nhu,
What a great response, that has really opened my eyes way past the "Bird and
the Bee", I've known Hippeastrum calyptratum to be pollinated by bats but I
guess I never associated flower charecteristics with this, 2+2=4, of course!
Would you assume that a flower may evolve to be pollinated by other than that
typical for the plant?
Thanks
Josh
________________________________
From: Nhu Nguyen <xerantheum@gmail.com>
To: Pacific Bulb Society <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Fri, November 5, 2010 5:17:01 PM
Subject: Re: [pbs] Window flowers
Hi David,
Modification of flowers (or lack thereof) almost always has to to with
pollinators. Plants that don't need animal pollinators have much reduced
petals. Plants that have bats pollinated flowers are often white, bloom at
night, and may include a perch. Plants that are pollinated by birds are
often colorful (red), blooms during the day and may include a perch
(hummingbird pollinated flowers don't have perches). And perhaps by far the
most elaborate flowers has to do with insect pollinators. Orchid is one of
the groups that takes full advantage of this going from giving a sweet
nectar reward to tricking insects to mate with them. Botanists call all of
this pollination syndrome. The clearing in the petals must have something to
do with these insect pollinators.
Nhu
Berkeley, CA