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Pollination

Self-fertilization strategy in an orchid

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An orchid that flowers in harsh conditions pollinates itself unassisted by any of the usual agents.

Abstract

Mating in flowering plants normally relies on animals, wind, gravity or secretion to convey pollen grains from the male (anther) to the female (stigma) organ1,2. Here we describe a new type of self-pollination mechanism in the tree-living orchid Holcoglossum amesianum, in which the bisexual flower turns its anther against gravity through 360° in order to insert pollen into its own stigma cavity — without the aid of any pollinating agent or medium. This mode of self-pollination, which occurs under windless, drought conditions when insects are scarce, adds to the variety of mechanisms that have evolved in angiosperms3,4 to ensure their reproductive success1,5.

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Figure 1: Mechanism of self-pollination in the orchid Holcoglossum amesianum.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Center for Biotechnology and BioMedicine, Graduate School at Shenzhen, Tsinghua University, Shenzhen, 518055, China

    Ke-Wei Liu & LaiQiang Huang

  2. School of Life Sciences, University of Science & Technology of China, Hefei, 230027, China

    Ke-Wei Liu

  3. The National Orchid Conservation Center, Shenzhen, 518114, China

    Zhong-Jian Liu, Li-Qiang Li, Li-Jun Chen & Guang-Da Tang

  4. College of Forestry, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, 510642, China

    Guang-Da Tang

Authors
  1. Ke-Wei Liu
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  2. Zhong-Jian Liu
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  3. LaiQiang Huang
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  4. Li-Qiang Li
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  5. Li-Jun Chen
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  6. Guang-Da Tang
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Correspondence to LaiQiang Huang.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Liu, KW., Liu, ZJ., Huang, L. et al. Self-fertilization strategy in an orchid. Nature 441, 945–946 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/441945a

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/441945a

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