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- Title
POLLINATION ECOLOGY OF SYNEDRELLA NODIFLORA (L.) GAERTN. (ASTERACEAE).
- Authors
Usharani, B.; Raju, A. J. Solomon
- Abstract
Synedrella nodiflora (L.) Gaertn grows almost throughout the year if the soil is damp. It produces heterogamous capitula with female ray florets anthesing on the first day and bisexual disc florets anthesing on the next three consecutive days. Disc florets are dichogamous, herkogamous, self-compatible, self-pollinating (vector-mediated) and display secondary pollen presentation through an intermediate form of brush mechanism. Ray and disc florets exhibit facultative xenogamy. Butterflies are principal pollinators while bees, wasps and flies are supplementary pollinators. Thrips Microcephalothrips abdominalis uses the florets as breeding and feeding sites; the feeding activity effects pollination. The ray and disc florets produce cypselas; the cypselas produced by ray florets are heavier, elliptical, membranous with upwardly-pointing teeth along the margins and two short terminal awns while those produced by disc florets are lighter, cylindrical and tangentially compressed with 2 or 3 stiff terminal divaricate awns. Seed dispersal is polychorous and represented by anemochory, anthropochory, zoochory and ombrohydrochory. Cypselas of ray florets disperse to short distances and germinate under specific germination conditions either at parental sites or in similar habitats while those of disc florets disperse farther away from parental sites and germinate readily under a wide range of conditions. Therefore, bimorphic cypselas with different germination abilities enable the plant to grow as a widespread weed but not as an invasive weed.
- Subjects
ASTERACEAE; POLLINATION; BUTTERFLIES
- Publication
Journal of Threatened Taxa, 2018, Vol 10, Issue 11, p12538
- ISSN
0974-7893
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.11609/jott.4008.10.11.12538-12551