Floral Biology and Breeding System of Bauhinia benthamiana Taub. (Leguminosae), a Bat-Pollinated Tree in Venezuelan "Llanos"

Abstract

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.. Botanical Society of America is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to American Journal of Botany.http://www.jstor.org Amer. J. Bot. 71(2): 273-280. 1984. AMONG THE DIFFERENT MODES of pollination, bat pollination is probably the most recent in the evolutionary history of angiosperms and is of great importance in tropical ecosystems (Heithaus, Flemming and Opler 1975; Sazima, 1976). Most of the studies on bat pollination (chiropterophily) report the time of anthesis, amount and solute concentration of the nectar produced by the plants and the general ' Received for publication 17 March 1983; revision accepted 5 July 1983.We would like to acknowledge the Sociedad Venezolana de Ciencias Naturales for letting us make use of the headquarters at the Estacion Biologica de Los Llanos in Calabozo, Venezuela. We are immensely grateful to Haydee Farihas for her technical assistance in the field and laboratory. We wish to express our gratitude to Sixto Garcia for the tables and graphs presented in the manuscript and to the following students for their help in the field: Z. ABSTRACTThe breeding system and floral characteristics of Baukinia ungulata L. were investigated during two consecutive flowering cycles (Dec-Feb). This tree grows in savannas in small sized patches scattered in the grassland and in larger tree clusters called "mata." Anthesis occurs between 17:00 and 19:30. Anther dehiscence and nectar secretion begin one hour after anthesis. Nectar is produced for 10 to 12 hr with an average sugar concentration of 13.5%. Flowers in small trees secrete nectar at a higher rate than do flowers in bigger trees. Two phyllostomatid bat species, Glossophaga soricina and Phyllostomus discolor, visit the flowers of B. ungulata between 20:00 and 4:00. Visits of variable duration occur every 1 to 2 hr. In general, the times of greatest nectar production of highest solute concentration of the nectar and of most frequent visits by the main pollinators coincide. The flowers are significantly dimorphic in pistil length, and ovules are abortive in the short-pistil flowers. Artificial self-and cross-pollinations in longand short-pistil flowers show that B. ungulata is genetically self-incompatible and functionally andromonoecious.

Nectar Production of Two Sympatric Species of Columnar Cacti

“…Wyatt and Shannon (1986) found that Ascfepias exaltata flowers with concentrated nectar received more visits and matured more fruits than flowers with dilute nectar, but unlike these cactus species, nectar concentration decreased with volume. For Buuhinia ungulata, nectar concentration increased with volume, and the times of greatest nectar production and concentration and of most frequent visits by bat pollinators coincided (Ramirez et al 1984). The timing of reward availability within a night has several potential outcomes.…”

Polarized Ovaries of the Long‐tongued Bat, Glossophaga soricina: A Novel Model for Studying Ovarian Development, Folliculogenesis, and Ovulation

“…They eat nectar, fruit, flower parts, pollen, and insects (Rasweiler, 1975, 1977; Alveraz et al, 1991). G. soricina is important ecologically; several night‐blooming plants rely on them for pollination (Ramirez et al, 1984; Silva and Peracchi, 1999; Zortea, 2003).…”

Foraging of Nectarivorous Bats on Bauhinia ungulata

“…Variations in temporal and spatial abundance of resources, besides determining the pattern of foraging of bat species, may allow the sharing of these resources (Sazima & Sazima 1978, Fleming 1982, Heithaus 1982. Bat pollination has been recorded in various species of Baubinia (Heithaus et al 1974, Bergallo 1990, Hokche & Ramirez 1990, and the pollination and floral biology of Baubinia ungulata L. (Leguminosae, Caesalpinioidea) has been described by Ramirez et al (1984). The present note focuses on the interactions between three species of nectarivorous bats which pollinate B. ungulata during different flowering periods.…”