Honeybee-assisted wind pollination in bambooPhyllostachys nidularia(Bambusoideae: Poaceae)?

Abstract

Floral syndromes and pollination of three species of Phyllostachys bamboos were studied in Central China in 1999 and 2000. All were protogynous. Stigmas were receptive and had pollen deposited on them 2 days before anther dehiscence. The period of anthesis in the three bamboos was 3 days. Individual pollen grains of the three species were similar in size (30–40 μm in diameter) and had features typical of wind‐pollinated plants. The ratios of pollen to ovules (p/o ratio) in P. nidularia, P. heteroclada and P. nuda were 6500, 12 700 and 33 000, respectively. Mean pollen loads on each flower (one ovule) of these three species were 7.3, 8.8 and 9.4 grains, respectively. Pollen transfer in P. heteroclada and P. nuda depended on wind, and no flower visitors were seen in the field. However, in P. nidularia, Apis cerana Fab. was a frequent pollen collector observed from 1200 to 1330 h. The visits undertaken by thousands of honeybees resulted in a large number of pollen grains being released from the anthers in a short time (10–15 min) in one day, which accelerated and synchronized the release of pollen from the anthers that seemed to enhance the chance of pollination. Given that honeybees played an indirect role in pollen transfer this could partly explain the low p/o ratio in P. nidularia. Reviewing the literature, we found insect visits to flowers of bamboos were not infrequent phenomena. We suggest pollination efficiency should be considered as one selective factor in attempts to understand mast flowering in bamboo. © 2002 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2002, 138, 1–7.

UV induced visual cues in grasses

“…1j, l, p) is coinciding with the visitor hits and pollen collection patterns (Fig. 1m, o) reported earlier3456.…”

“…Our data (Fig. 1m, o)45 and other previous studies36 found bees and other visitors only on the male stages of bamboo flowers, and reported pollen collections by them. These visitor activities were not observed in the female stages of their flowers3456.…”

“…The lignocellulosic biomass of grasses is considered as a renewable feedstock for biofuels2. Though grasses are known to be wind pollinated, recent studies reported bee and insect visits to bamboo flowers in south America3, south India45 and central China6. Moreover, insect visits to grass flowers (florets) were observed in habitats where wind is negligible3.…”

Flowering and fruiting of Aulonemia aristulata: a gynomonoecious woody bamboo species from Atlantic Forest in Brazil

“…In addition, the scandent habit and growth in higher parts of the canopy and the flowering in the dry season are other features of A. aristulata that possibly favor anemophily. Wind pollination has been demonstrated as the usual pollination mechanism in bamboos by Janzen (1976) and Huang et al (2002).…”

“…Floral characters observed in reproductive biology studies have shown that in some bamboo species the gynoecium matures earlier than the androecium (Ramanayake &Yakandawala 1998, Huang et al 2002 while in others both, the gynoecium and the androecium mature at the same time (John & Nadgauda 2002). Protandrous florets (the androecium matures earlier than the gynoecium) are rare in bamboos (Ramanayake & Weerawardene 2003).…”