Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Pollination of the heterostylous Galápagos native, Cordia lutea (Boraginaceae)

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Plant Systematics and Evolution Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The hypothesis of this study was that in the Galápagos Islands, fruit and seed set via nocturnal pollination would exceed that of diurnal pollination due to greater insect activity at night typical of hot, arid regions. Cordia lutea, a heterostylous member of the Galápagos flora, was submitted to pollination experiments, visitor observations, nectar sampling, pollen transfer studies, pollen-ovule ratio studies, and pollen measurements. Flowers set fruit and seed via open pollination, autonomous autogamy, facilitated autogamy, facilitated cross-pollination, diurnal pollination, and nocturnal pollination. There was a significant difference in fruit set between flowers experiencing legitimate cross-pollinations (pin × thrum) and those experiencing all other pollination treatments except facilitated autogamy. There was no significant difference in seed set among any of the treatments, but there was a trend toward greater seed set for flowers experiencing open-pollination, legitimate cross-pollination, and nocturnal pollination. There was no significant difference in fruit set or seed set between flowers experiencing diurnal pollination and nocturnal pollination, although there was a trend toward greater seed set resulting from nocturnal pollination. Carpenter bees were the most effective diurnal pollinators, whereas moths were the most effective nocturnal pollinators. Of the two, moths are more efficient at transporting pollen from plant to plant. Results indicate that an overall low productivity of this species is due to pollen limitation exacerbated by nectar robbing. Cordia lutea exhibits a mixed mating system, producing a relatively low level of fruits through a combination of self- and cross-pollination, facilitated by the relatively few insects that are available.

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

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adamski D, Landry B (1997) Review of the Blastobasinae (Lepidoptera: Gelechioidea: Coleophoridae) of the Galápagos Islands. Proc Entomol Soc Wash 99:348–358

    Google Scholar 

  • Al-Shehbaz I (1991) The genera of Boraginaceae in the southeastern United States. J Arnold Arbor, Supplementary Series 1:1–169

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson GJ, Bernardello G, Opel MR, Santos-Guerra A, Anderson M (2006) Reproductive biology of the dioecious Canary Islands endemic Withania aristata (Solanaceae). Am J Bot 93:1295–1305

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Baker HG (1955) Self-compatibility and establishment after “long-distance” dispersal. Evolution 9:347–348

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baker HG (1967) Support for Baker’s law as a rule. Evolution 21:853–856

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baker HG, Baker I (1983) A brief historical review of the chemistry of floral nectar. In: Bentley B, Elias T (eds) The biology of nectarines. Columbia University Press, New York, pp 126–152

    Google Scholar 

  • Barrett SCH (1996) The reproductive biology and genetics of island plants. Philos Trans Roy Soc Lond B 351:725–733

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barrett SCH, Shore J (1987) Variation and evolution of breeding systems in the Turnera ulmifolia complex (Turneraceae). Evolution 41:340–354

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barrows EM (1980) Robbing of exotic plants by introduced carpenter and honey bees in Hawaii, with comparative notes. Biotropica 12:23–29

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beattie AJ (1985) The evolutionary ecology of ant–plant mutualisms. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Bernardello L, Anderson GJ, Patricio Lopez S, Cleland MA, Stuessy TF, Crawford DJ (1999) Reproductive biology of Lactoris fernandeziana (Lactoridaceae). Am J Bot 86:829–840

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Burkle LA, Irwin RE, Newman DA (2007) Predicting the effects on nectar robbing on plant reproduction: implications of pollen limitation and plant mating system. Am J Bot 94:1935–1943

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Carlquist S (1974) Island biology. Columbia University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Causton C, Peck SB, Sinclair BJ, Roque-Albelo L, Hodgson CJ, Landry B (2006) Alien insects: threats and implications for the conservation of Galápagos Islands. Ann Entomol Soc Amer 99:121–143

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cruden RW (1977) Pollen–ovule ratios: a conservative indicator of breeding systems in flowering plants. Evolution 31:32–46

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Darwin CR (1877) The different forms of flowers on plants of the same species. John Murray, London

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Dulberger R (1992) Floral polymorphisms and their functional significance in the heterostylous syndrome. In: Barrett SCH (ed) Evolution and function of heterostyly. Monographs on theoretical and applied genetics. Springer, Berlin, pp 41–84

    Google Scholar 

  • Eliasson UH (2004) The evolutionary patterns of the plant family amaranthaceae on the Galápagos and Hawaiian Islands. J Torrey Bot Soc 131:105–109

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Faegri K, van der Pijl L (1979) The principals of pollination ecology. Pergamon Press, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Fausto JA Jr, Eckhart VM, Geber MA (2001) Reproductive assurance and the evolutionary ecology of self-pollination in Clarkia xantiana (Onagraceae). Amer J Bot 88:1794–1800

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ganders FR (1979) The biology of heterostyly. NZ J Bot 17:607–635

    Google Scholar 

  • Gibbs PE, Taroda N (1983) Heterostyly in the Cordia alliodora–C. trichotoma complex in Brazil. Rev Brasileira Bot 6:1–10

    Google Scholar 

  • Godley EJ (1979) Floral biology in New Zealand. NZ J Bot 17:441–466

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grant BR, Grant PR (1981) Exploitation of Opuntia cactus by birds on the Galápagos. Oecologia (Berl) 49:179–187

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hamann O (1981) Plant communities of the Galápagos Islands. Dan Bot Ark 34:1–164

    Google Scholar 

  • Hamann O (2001) Demographic studies of three indigenous stand-forming plant taxa (Scalesia, Opuntia, and Bursera) in the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador. Biodivers Conserv 10:223–250

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hayes AH (1975) The larger moths of the Galápagos Islands (Geometroidea, Sphingoidea, and Noctuoidea). Proc Calif Acad Sci 40:145–208 (Series 4)

    Google Scholar 

  • Itow S (2003) Zonation patterns, succession process and invasion by aliens in species-poor insular vegetation of the Galápagos Islands. Global Environ Res 7:39–58

    Google Scholar 

  • Jabis MD, Ayers TJ, Allan GJ (2011) Pollinator-mediated gene flow fosters genetic variability in a narrow alpine endemic, Abronia alpine (Nyctaginaceae). Amer J Bot 98:1583–1594

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jaramillo PJ, Trigo MM, Ramírez E, Mauchamp A (2010) Insect pollinators of Jasminocereus thouarsii, an endemic cactus of the Galapagos Islands. Galapagos Res 67:21–25

    Google Scholar 

  • Landry B, Landry J-F (1998) Yponomeutidae of the Galápagos Islands, with description of a new species of Prays (Lepidoptera: Yponomeutoidea). Trop Lepidoptera 9:31–40

    Google Scholar 

  • Landry B, Neunzig HH (1997) A review of the Phycitinae of the Galápagos Islands (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae). Entomol Scand 28:493–508

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lawesson JE, Adsersen H, Bentley P (1987) An annotated check list of the vascular plants of the Galápagos Islands. Rep Bot Inst, University of Aarhus, Number 16, Risskov

  • Linsley EG (1966) Pollinating insects of the Galápagos Islands. In: Bowman RI (ed) The Galápagos. University of California Press, Berkeley, pp 225–232

    Google Scholar 

  • Linsley EG, Rick CM, Stephens SG (1966) Observations on the floral relationships of the Galápagos carpenter bee. Pan-Pac Entomologist 42:1–18

    Google Scholar 

  • McMullen CK (1987) Breeding systems of selected Galápagos Islands angiosperms. Amer J Bot 74:1694–1705

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McMullen CK (1990) Reproductive biology of Galápagos Islands angiosperms. In: Lawesson JE, Hamann O, Rogers G, Reck G, Ochoa H (eds) Botanical research and management in Galápagos. Monographs in Systematic Botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden, Missouri, pp 35–45

    Google Scholar 

  • McMullen CK (1993) Flowering-visiting insects of the Galápagos Islands. Pan-Pac Entomol 69:95–106

    Google Scholar 

  • McMullen CK (1999) Flowering plants of the Galápagos Islands. Cornell University Press, Ithaca

    Google Scholar 

  • McMullen CK (2007) Pollination biology of the Galápagos endemic, Tournefortia rufo-sericea (Boraginaceae). Bot J Linn Soc 153:21–31

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McMullen CK (2009) Pollination biology of a night-flowering Galápagos endemic, Ipomoea habeliana (Convolvulaceae). Bot J Linn Soc 160:11–20

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McMullen CK (2011) Nocturnal and diurnal pollination of Clerodendrum molle (Verbenaceae) in the Galápagos Islands. Plant Syst Evol 292:15–23

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McMullen CK, Naranjo SJ (1994) Pollination of Scalesia baurii ssp. hopkinsii (Asteraceae) on Pinta Island. Not de Galápagos 53:25–28

    Google Scholar 

  • McMullen CK, Tye A, Hamann O (2008) Botanical research in the Galápagos Islands: the last fifty years and the next fifty. Galápagos Res 65:43–45

    Google Scholar 

  • Meeus S, Jacquemyn H, Honnay O, Pailler T (2011) Self-incompatibility and pollen limitation in the rare tristylous endemic Hugonia serrata on La Réunion Island. Pl Syst Evol 292:143–151

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Micheneau C, Fournel J, Gauvin-Bialecki A, Pailler T (2008) Auto-pollination in a long-spurred endemic orchid (Jumellea stenophylla) on Reunion Island (Mascarene Archipelago, Indian Ocean). Pl Syst Evol 272:11–22

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Navarro L (1999) Pollination ecology and effect of nectar removal in Macleania bullata (Ericaceae). Biotropica 31:618–625

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Navarro L (2000) Pollination ecology of Anthyllis vulneraria subsp. vulgaris (Fabaceae): nectar robbers as pollinators. Amer J Bot 87:980–985

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nielsen LR, Philipp M, Adsersen H, Siegismund HR (2000) Breeding system of Scalesia divisa Andersson, an endemic Asteraceae from the Galápagos Islands. Det Nor Vidensk-Akad I. Mat Naturvidenskapelige Klas, Skrift, Ny Ser 39:127–138

    Google Scholar 

  • Nielsen LR, Philipp M, Siegismund HR (2002) Selective advantage of ray florets in Scalesia affinis and S. pedunculata (Asteraceae), two endemic species from the Galápagos. Evol Ecol 16:139–153

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nielsen LR, Siegismund HR, Philipp M (2003) Partial self-incompatibility in the polyploid endemic species Scalesia affinis (Asteraceae) from the Galápagos: remnants of a self-incompatibility system? Bot J Linn Soc 142:93–101

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Opler PA (1983) Nectar production in a tropical ecosystem. In: Bentley B, Elias T (eds) The biology of nectaries. Columbia University Press, New York, pp 30–79

    Google Scholar 

  • Opler PA, Baker HG, Frankie GW (1975) Reproductive biology of some Costa Rican Cordia species (Boraginaceae). Biotropica 7:234–247

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pailler T, Humeau L, Thompson JD (1998) Distyly and heteromorphic incompatibility in oceanic island species of Erythroxylum (Erythroxylaceae). Plant Syst Evol 213:187–198

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peck SB (1991) The Galápagos archipelago, Ecuador: with an emphasis on terrestrial invertebrates, especially insects; and an outline for research. In: Dudley EC (ed) The unity of evolutionary biology. Dioscorides Press, Portland, pp 319–336

    Google Scholar 

  • Peck SB, Kukalová-Peck J (1990) Origin and biogeography of the beetles (Coleoptera) of the Galápagos archipelago, Ecuador. Can J Zool 68:1617–1638

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Philipp M, Nielsen LR (2010) Reproductive ecology of Scalesia cordata (Asteraceae), and endangered species from the Galápagos Islands. Bot J Linn Soc 162:496–503

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Philipp M, Hansen LB, Adsersen H, Siegismund HR (2004) Reproductive ecology of the endemic Lecocarpus pinnatifidus (Asteraceae) in an isolated population in the Galápagos Islands. Bot J Linn Soc 146:171–180

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Philipp M, Böcher J, Siegismund HR, Nielsen LR (2006) Structure of a plant-pollinator network on a pahoehoe lava desert of the Galápagos Islands. Ecography 29:531–540

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Proctor M, Yeo P, Lack A (1996) The natural history of pollination. Timber Press, Portland

    Google Scholar 

  • Ree RH (1997) Pollen flow, fecundity, and the adaptive significance of heterostyly in Palicourea padifolia (Rubiaceae). Biotropica 29:298–308

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rick CM (1966) Some plant–animal relations on the Galápagos Islands. In: Bowman RI (ed) The Galápagos. University of California Press, Berkeley, pp 215–224

    Google Scholar 

  • Roque-Albelo L (2004) The butterflies (Papilionoidea, Hesperioidea) of the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador: distribution, hostplants and biology). J Lepidopterist Soc 58(1):33–43

    Google Scholar 

  • Roque-Albelo L, Landry B (2001) The Sphingidae (Lepidoptera) of the Galápagos Islands: their identification, distribution, and host plants, with new records. Bull Soc Entomol Suisse 74:217–226

    Google Scholar 

  • Rozowski J, Landry B, Roque-Albelo L (2007) The Tortricidae (Lepidoptera) of the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador. Revue Suisse Zool 115:185–220

    Google Scholar 

  • Schofield EK (1989) Morphological variation in Waltheria ovata Cav. From the Galápagos Islands and South America. Not Galápagos 48:3–7

    Google Scholar 

  • Stebbins GL (1957) Self fertilization and population variability in the higher plants. Amer Nat 91:337–354

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tye A (2002) Revision of the threat status of the endemic flora of Galápagos. Galápagos Rep 2001–2002. Quito: WWF–Fundacion Natura, 116–122

  • Webb CJ, Kelly D (1993) The reproductive biology of the New Zealand flora. Trends Ecol Evol 8:442–447

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wiggins IL, Porter DM (1971) Flora of the Galápagos Islands. Stanford University Press, Stanford

    Google Scholar 

  • Willmott AP, Búrquez A (1996) The pollination of Merremia palmeri (Convolvulaceae): can hawk moths be trusted? Amer J Bot 83:1050–1056

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Young HJ (2002) Diurnal and nocturnal pollination of Silene alba (Caryophyllaceae). Amer J Bot 89:433–440

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang Z, Li Q (2008) Autonomous selfing provides reproductive assurance in an alpine ginger Roscoea schneideriana (Zingiberaceae). Ann Botany 102:531–538

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zink RA, Wheelwright NT (1997) Facultative self-pollination in island irises. Amer Midl Nat 137:72–78

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

I thank the Charles Darwin Foundation, the Charles Darwin Research Station, the Galápagos National Park Service, and TAME Airlines for logistical support. Chantal Blanton, Laura Chellis, Felipe Cruz, Jacqueline and Tui De Roy, Andre Mauchamp, Godfrey Merlen, and David Sutherland are acknowledged for their contributions to the success of this study. I also thank Bernard Landry, Rolf Meier, Stewart Peck, Lazaro Roque-Albelo, and Leon Baert for insect and spider identifications; Brent Marnell and Jorge Samaniego for excellent field assistance; Alex Stella, Erin Culpepper, and Emily Treadaway for pollen counts and measurements; William Flint and Jon Kastendiek for constructive discussions and assistance with statistical analyses; and Gregory Anderson for reviewing an earlier version of the manuscript. National Geographic Society Grant 5014-93 provided the majority of funding for this study. This paper is dedicated to the memory of Gayle Davis-Merlen, long-time friend and librarian at the Charles Darwin Research Station.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, MSC 7801, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA, 22807, USA

    Conley K. McMullen

Authors
  1. Conley K. McMullen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Conley K. McMullen.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

McMullen, C.K. Pollination of the heterostylous Galápagos native, Cordia lutea (Boraginaceae). Plant Syst Evol 298, 569–579 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00606-011-0567-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00606-011-0567-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation