Reproductive isolation and pollination success of rewarding Galearis diantha and non-rewarding Ponerorchis chusua (Orchidaceae).

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Increasing evidence challenges the conventional perception that orchids are the most distinct example of floral diversification due to floral or prezygotic isolation. Regarding the relationship between co-flowering plants, rewarding and non-rewarding orchids in particular, few studies have investigated whether non-rewarding plants affect the pollination success of rewarding plants. Here, floral isolation and mutual effects between the rewarding orchid Galearis diantha and the non-rewarding orchid Ponerorchis chusua were investigated. METHODS: Flowering phenological traits were monitored by noting the opening and wilting dates of the chosen individual plants. The pollinator pool and pollinator behaviour were assessed from field observations. Key morphological traits of the flowers and pollinators were measured directly in the field. Pollinator limitation and interspecific compatibility were evaluated by hand-pollination experiments. Fruit set was surveyed in monospecific and heterospecific plots. KEY RESULTS: The species had overlapping peak flowering periods. Pollinators of both species displayed a certain degree of constancy in visiting each species, but they also visited other flowers before landing on the focal orchids. A substantial difference in spur size between the species resulted in the deposition of pollen on different regions of the body of the shared pollinator. Hand-pollination experiments revealed that fruit set was strongly pollinator-limited in both species. No significant difference in fruit set was found between monospecific plots and heterospecific plots. CONCLUSIONS: A combination of mechanical isolation and incomplete ethological isolation eliminates the possibility of pollen transfer between the species. These results do not support either the facilitation or competition hypothesis regarding the effect of nearby rewarding flowers on non-rewarding plants. The absence of a significant effect of non-rewarding P. chusua on rewarding G. diantha can be ascribed to low levels of overlap between the pollinator pools of two species.

1,3-Dimethyl-5-(3-methyl-phen-oxy)-1H-pyrazole-4-carbaldehyde.

There are two independent mol-ecules in the asymmetric unit of the title compound, C(13)H(14)N(2)O(2), in which the dihedral angles between the substituted phenyl ring and the pyrazole ring are 86.5 (2) and 82.3 (3)°. The crystal packing features weak inter-molecular C-H⋯O inter-actions.

Reproductive success of non-rewarding Cypripedium japonicum benefits from low spatial dispersion pattern and asynchronous flowering.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Outcrossing animal-pollinated plants, particularly non-rewarding species, often experience pollinator limitation to reproduction. Pollinator visitation is affected by various factors, and it is hypothesized that reproduction in non-rewarding plants would benefit from low spatial flower abundance and asynchronous flowering. In order to test this hypothesis, the influence of spatial pattern and flowering phenology on male and female reproductive success (RS) was investigated in a non-rewarding orchid, Cypripedium japonicum, in central China over two flowering seasons. METHODS: The probabilities of intrafloral self-pollination and geitonogamy caused by pollinator behaviours were estimated from field observations. Pollinator limitation was evaluated by hand-pollination experiments. RS was surveyed in different spatial flower dispersal patterns and local flower densities. The effects of flowering phenological traits on RS were assessed by univariate and multivariate regression analyses. KEY RESULTS: Hand-pollination experiments revealed that fruit production was strongly pollen limited throughout the entire reproductive season - over two seasons, 74.3 % of individuals set fruit following hand pollination, but only 5.2-7.7 % did so under natural conditions. Intrafloral self-pollination and geitonogamy within the potential clones might be rare. Both male and female fitness were substantially lower in clustered plants than in those growing singly. An increase in local conspecific flower density significantly and negatively influenced male RS, but had no effect on female RS. Phenotypic selection analysis indicated that individuals flowering earlier have the greatest probability of RS. Over 85 % of sampled flowering individuals had a flowering synchrony value >0.7; however, highly synchronous flowering was not advantageous for RS, as indicated by the negative directional selection differentials and gradients, and by the positive quadratic selection gradients. CONCLUSIONS: These results support the hypothesis that, as a consequence of density-dependent selection, low spatio-temporal flower abundance is advantageous for attracting pollinators and for reproduction in natural populations of non-rewarding C. japonicum.

Isolation and characterization of 50 nuclear microsatellite markers for Cathaya argyrophylla, a Chinese endemic conifer.

PREMISE OF THE STUDY: Microsatellite primers were developed for the endangered Cathaya argyrophylla (Pinaceae) to investigate its genetic diversity and population genetic structure, as well as its evolutionary history. • METHODS AND RESULTS: Fifty dinucleotide microsatellite loci were identified in two populations. The number of alleles per locus ranged from 1 to 6, with a mean of 2.84. The observed and expected heterozygosities ranged from 0 to 0.889 and from 0 to 0.779, respectively. • CONCLUSIONS: These markers will facilitate further studies on the population genetics and evolutionary history of Cathaya argyrophylla.