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Trends in the reproductive biology of Venezuelan Melochia (Malvaceae) species

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Abstract

The breeding system, floral morphology, morph frequency, biomass allocation to floral whorls, pollination and reproductive efficiency were examined in four distylous and three monomorphic Melochia species. Monomorphic species were self-compatible and distylous species were self-incompatible. Flowers of homomorphic species were longer than those of distylous species. Herkogamy was significantly higher in pin than in thrum morphs of the two distylous species, and monomorphic species exhibited the lowest values of herkogamy. Pollen/ovule ratios were similar between monomorphic and dimorphic species, irrespective of the self-incompatibility level. Biomass allocation to flowers was biased toward non-sexual structures, attraction and support. Androecium biomass and androecium/gynoecium biomass ratio were larger in thrum than in pin flowers of distylous species indicating maleness in the thrum morph and femaleness in the pin morph. There was no clear difference between fruit set of monomorphic and dimorphic species; however, the greatest fruit set was found in the monomorphic species, M. pyramidata, which is a self-compatible species. Fruit set was significantly higher in pin than in thrum morphs in three out four distylous species and fecundity was only significantly higher in pin morphs of M. caracasana and M. parvifolia. Melochia species have generalist pollination systems. According to the taxonomic classes and number of pollinator species, M. caracasana and M. parvifolia have similar generalist pollination systems. Our comparative analyses of the characters between floral morphs of distylous species and the relationship with these characters in monomorphic species allow divergences and similarities to be established and different evolutionary trends to be postulated in the breeding systems of Melochia species. Specifically, M. parvifolia and M. caracasana are apparently biased toward monomorphy and dioecy, respectively.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank two anonymous reviewers for helpful comments and suggestions. Special thanks to H. Briceño and R. Salazar for assistance in the field and laboratory, and W. Duran for technical support. This study was partially supported by Consejo de Desarrollo Científico y Humanístico, UCV, 03.33.5206.2005. We are very grateful to Proyecto Cyted 240106 “Las interacciones ecológicas entre plantas y animales como generadoras de biodiversidad: su papel en la dinámica y conservación de los ecosistemas” for further support. The first author thanks C. L. Cristóbal for Melochia species identifications and we are also grateful to O. Mielke, J. Clavijo, C. Eickwort (†), A. S. Menke, and R. R. Snelling for insect identifications.

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  1. Centro Botánica Tropical, Facultad de Ciencias, Instituto de Biología Experimental, Universidad Central de Venezuela, Apartado 48312, Caracas, 1041A, Venezuela

    Nelson Ramírez

  2. Departamento de Biología Vegetal, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Vigo, As Lagoas-Marcosende, Vigo, Spain

    Luis Navarro

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Ramírez, N., Navarro, L. Trends in the reproductive biology of Venezuelan Melochia (Malvaceae) species. Plant Syst Evol 289, 147–163 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00606-010-0340-z

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