Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Pollination intensity and potential seed set in Passiflora vitifolia

  • Original Papers
  • Published:
Oecologia Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Summary

Initial seed set and fruit set were pollen-limited in a Costa Rican population of Passiflora vitifolia, a self-incompatible species with 200–350 ovules per flower. Pollination intensity was measured by counting the number of allogamous pollen grains on stigmas of the large one-day flowers. Hand-pollinations demonstrated that 25–50 pollen grains are required for fruit set, and >450 are needed for maximum seed set, with a pollen:seed ratio of about 1.6:1.0. Hummingbirds (Phaethornis superciliosus) delivered sufficient allogamous pollen for maximum seed set to only 28% of the flowers examined. Naturally pollinated flowers yielded fewer fruits and fewer seeds per fruit than those pollinated by hand. Most pollen transferred by humming-birds was self-incompatible; emasculated flowers yielded higher seed set than flowers with intact anthers. Visitation rates did not provide a good index of effective pollination.

There were significant differences in ovule number, maximum seed set, and maximum per cent seed set among individual vines. More than half of an individual's flowers failed to set fruit, whether pollinated by birds or by hand. In this population, maximum reproductive potential may be limited by maternal resources for fruit development, but seed set varies with pollination intensity. Pollen-limited seed set may be a disadvantage of self-incompatibility, especially in species with many-seeded fruits.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Akamine EK, Girolami G (1959) Pollination and fruit set in the yellow passion fruit. Tech Bull Hawaii Exp Stn No 39

  • Alexander MP (1969) Differential staining of aborted and non-aborted pollen. Stain Tech 44(3):117–122

    Google Scholar 

  • Augspurger CK (1980) Mass-flowering in a tropical shrub (Hybanthus prunifolius): Influence on pollinator attraction and movement. Evolution 34:475–488

    Google Scholar 

  • Avery AG, Satina S, Rietsma J (1959) The genus Datura.Blakeslee, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Baile JB (1978) On the interface between horticulture and plant physiology. Ann Rev Plant Physiol 29:1–23

    Google Scholar 

  • Bertin RI (1982a) Floral biology, hummingbird pollination, and fruit production of trumpet creeper (Campsis radicans, Bignoniaceae). Amer J Bot 69(1):122–134

    Google Scholar 

  • Bertin RI (1982b) Paternity and fruit production in trumpet creeper (Campsis radicans). Amer Natur 119(5):694–709

    Google Scholar 

  • Bierzychudek P (1981) Pollinator limitation of plant reproductive effort. Amer Natur 117:838–840

    Google Scholar 

  • Brewbaker JL, Majumder SK (1961) Cultural studies of pollen population effect and the self-incompatibility inhibition. Amer J Bot 48:457–464

    Google Scholar 

  • Crane JC (1964) Growth substances in fruit setting and development. Ann Rev Plant Physiol 15:303–326

    Google Scholar 

  • Cruden RW (1977) Pollen-ovule ratios: A conservative indicator of breeding systems in flowering plants. Evolution 31:34–46

    Google Scholar 

  • East EM (1949) The distribution of self-sterility in the flowering plants. Proc Amer Phil Soc 82:449–518

    Google Scholar 

  • Fingerette ER (1979) Pollen competition in a species of evening primrose, Oenothera organensis Munz. Ms thesis, Washington St Univ, Pullman, Wa

    Google Scholar 

  • Gill FA, Mack AL, Ray RT (1982) Competition between hermit hummingbirds (Phaethorninae) and insects for nectar in a Costa Rican rain forest. Ibis 124:44–49

    Google Scholar 

  • Hawthorne LR, Bohart GE, Toole EH (1956) Carrot seed yield and germination as affected by different levels of insect pollination. Proc Amer Soc Hort Sci 67:384–389

    Google Scholar 

  • Kanchan S, Jayachandra (1980) Pollen allelopathy — a new phenomenon. New Phytol 84:739–746

    Google Scholar 

  • Jennings DL, Topham PB (1971) Some consequences of raspberry pollen dilution for its germination and for fruit development. New Phytol 70:371–380

    Google Scholar 

  • Janzen DH (1967) Synchronization of sexual reproduction of trees within the dry season in Central America. Evolution 21:620–637

    Google Scholar 

  • Janzen DH (1968) Reproductive behavior in the Passifloraceae and some of its pollinators in Central America. Behavior 32:33–48

    Google Scholar 

  • Janzen DH, DeVries P, Gladstone DE, Higgins ML, Lewisohn TM (1980) Self- and cross-pollination of Encyclia cordigera (Orchidaceae) in Santa Rosa National Park, Costa Rica. Biotropica 12:72–74

    Google Scholar 

  • Killip EP (1939) The American species of Passifloraceae. Field Mus Nat Hist Bot 19:1–63

    Google Scholar 

  • Levin DA, Berube D (1972) Pholx and Colias: the efficiency of a pollination system. Evolution 26:242–250

    Google Scholar 

  • Lloyd DG, Webb CJ, Primack RB (1980) Sexual strategies in plants: II. Data on regulation of maternal investment. New Phytol 86:81–92

    Google Scholar 

  • McDade LA, Davidar P (1982) Seed set in Pavonia dasypetala (Malvaceae) related to pollinator visits and pollination intensity (submitted for publication to Ecology)

  • Motten AF, Campbell DR, Alexander DE, Miller HL (1981) Pollination effectiveness of specialist and generalist visitors to a North Carolina population of Claytonia virginica. Ecology 62(5):1278–1287

    Google Scholar 

  • Mulcahy DL (1979) Rise of the angiosperms: A genecological factor. Science 206:20–23

    Google Scholar 

  • Mulcahy DL, Mulcahy GB (1975) The influence of gametophytic competition on sporophytic quality in Dianthus chinensis. Theor Appl Genetics 46:277–280

    Google Scholar 

  • Mulcahy DL, Curtis PS, Snow AA (1982) Pollen competition in a natural population of Geranium maculatum. In: Jones CE, Little RJ (eds) Handbook of experimental pollination biology. Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York (in press)

    Google Scholar 

  • Ockendon DJ, Currah L (1977) Self-pollen reduces the number of cross-pollen tubes in the styles of Brassica oleracea L. New Phytol 78:675–680

    Google Scholar 

  • Ornduff R (1970) Incompatibility and the pollen economy of Jepsonia heterandra. Amer J Bot 57:1036–1041

    Google Scholar 

  • Ornduff R (1971) The reproductive system of Jepsonia heterandra. Evolution 25:300–311

    Google Scholar 

  • Ottaviano E, Sari-Gorla M, Mulcahy DL (1980) Pollen tube growth rates in Zea mays: Implications for genetic improvements of crops. Science 210:437–438

    Google Scholar 

  • Schemske DW (1980) Evolution of floral display in the orchid Brassavola nodosa. Evolution 34(3):489–493

    Google Scholar 

  • Silander JA, Primack RB (1978) Pollination intensity and seed set in the evening primrose (Oenothera fruticosa). Amer Midl Natur 100(1):213–216

    Google Scholar 

  • Stephenson AG (1979) Fruit set, herbivory, fruit reduction, and flowering strategy of Catalpa speciosa (Bignoniaceae). Evolution 33(4):1200–1209

    Google Scholar 

  • Stephenson AG (1981) Flower and fruit abortion: proximate causes and ultimate functions. Ann Rev Ecol Syst 12:253–279

    Google Scholar 

  • Stiles FG (1978) Temporal organization of flowering among the hummingbird food plants of a tropical wet forest. Biotropica 10:194–210

    Google Scholar 

  • Ter-Avanesian DV (1978) The effect of varying the number of pollen grains used in fertilization. Theor Appl Genetics 53:77–79

    Google Scholar 

  • Udovic D, Aker C (1981) Fruit abortion and the regulation of fruit number in Yucca whipplei. Oecologia (Berl) 49:245–248

    Google Scholar 

  • Waser NM (1978a) Competition for hummingbird pollination and sequential flowering in two Colorado wildflowers. Ecology 59:934–944

    Google Scholar 

  • Waser NM (1978b) Interspecific pollen transfer and competition between co-occurring plant species. Oecologia (Berl) 36:223–236

    Google Scholar 

  • Waser NM, Price MV (1981) Pollinator choice and stabilizing selection for flower color in Delphinium nelsonii. Evolution 35(2):376–390

    Google Scholar 

  • Willson MF, Rathcke BJ (1974) Adaptive design of the floral display in Asclepias syriaca L. Amer Midl Natur 92:47–57

    Google Scholar 

  • Willson MF, Schemske DW (1980) Pollinator limitation, fruit production, and floral display in Pawpaw (Asimina triloba). Bull Torrey Bot Club 107(3):401–408

    Google Scholar 

  • Wyatt R (1981) The reproductive biology of Ascelpias tuberosa. II. Factors determining fruit set. New Phytol 88:373–385

    Google Scholar 

  • Zimmerman M (1980) Reproduction in Polemonium: Competition for pollinators. Ecology 61(3):497–501

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Author notes

  1. Allison A. Snow

    Present address: Botany Department, U.C./Davis, 95616, Davis, California, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Botany Department, University of Massachusetts, 01003, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA

    Allison A. Snow

Authors
  1. Allison A. Snow
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Snow, A.A. Pollination intensity and potential seed set in Passiflora vitifolia . Oecologia 55, 231–237 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00384492

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00384492

Keywords

Search

Navigation