Some Observations on the Reproductive Biology of Gaultheria Procumbens (Ericaceae)

Abstract

The pollination and fruit production of Gaultheria procumbens L. (Ericaceae), an evergreen sub‐shrub, were studied in five woodland sites in New Jersey and one in northeastern Pennsylvania. Pollinator exclusion methods at three of the sites produced no consistent differences in fruit and seed set between enclosed plants and controls. Insect pollinators, almost exclusively bumblebees, were sparse at all sites; visitation rates were about 0.01 bee visits/flower/hr. All fruits examined contained at least 35 seeds, but about half of the pistils examined, from open‐pollinated plants, did not contain enough pollen tetrads on their stigmatic surfaces to fertilize this number of ovules. However, the low average fruit set of 8.2% on open‐pollinated plants was due more to the high mortality of buds prior to anthesis than to inadequate pollination. Bud mortality was high and fruit set low in 3 years of observations at various study sites, indicating that this may be a general pattern for the species in northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. The amount of sexual reproduction showed no consistent relationship to stem density.

Population differentiation and dynamics of five pioneer species of Gaultheria from the secondary forests in subtropical China

“…This asymmetry was postulated as facilitated by the East Asian monsoon, hybrid incompatibility, and wind-mediated pollen dispersal. Species of Gaultheria can be pollinated by insects and wind [58,59]. In our study, east-to-west gene flow of the G. crenulata group may be enhanced by pollen-mediated movement influenced by the East Asian monsoon system, the significant role of which in shaping population genetic structure has also been demonstrated in plants such as Primulina Hance [60] and Quercus chenii Nakai [61].…”

The importance of clonal growth to the recovery of Gaultheria procumbens L. (Ericaceae) after forest disturbance

“…), scrub oak (Quercus ilicifolia/Q. prinoides), Motzkin et al 1999;Donohue et al 2000), treeless barrens (Strang 1970(Strang , 1972, sphagnum bogs (Mirick and Quinn 1981) and cutover land (Roberts and Zhu 2002;Moola and Vasseur 2004). It has an affinity for acidic soil, and grows well on many soil types of low nutrient status, including peat, sand, and sandy loam.…”

“…Vegetative reproduction is by additional branching on existing old aerial ramets (re-growth) or the initiation of new ramets from buds on belowground rhizomes (new growth) (Mirick and Quinn 1981). New ramets that are initiated as either re-growth or new growth can produce flowers and fruit in their year of formation and thus presumably contribute to sexual reproduction (sexual stems) (Donohue et al 2000).…”

Dioecy and wind pollination in Pernettya rigida (Ericaceae) of the Juan Fernández Islands

“…mumnata. There are more records on pollination and reproductive biology of the closely related genus Gaultheria (Thompson, 1926;Heine, 1937;Hagerup, 1954;Pojar, 1974;Reader, 1975Reader, , 1977Mirick & Quinn, 1981;Primack, 1983;Hermann & Cambi, 1992), with which Pernettya is sometimes combined (Middleton & Wilcock, 1990). We follow the opinion of Sleumer (1 985) and Luteyn (1 995) in treating Pernettya as a distinct genus.…”