Abstract
The distinctive habitat of vertical cliffs provides refuges for many relict plant species. Primula palinuri Petagn. is the only maritime and Mediterranean species of the genus Primula. It only occurs on the cliffs of a narrow area of southern Italy and is classified as being at risk of extinction. Given that only fragmentary information on the biology and ecology of P. palinuri is available, we studied flower morphology, breeding system and other reproductive traits of this species to furnish data for the evaluation of its conservation status. We assessed that plants of P. palinuri develop either long-styled or short-styled flowers and both morphs are equally represented in the studied populations. Reciprocal position of anthers and stigmas is complemented by differences in pollen–ovule ratios, pollen size and exine ornamentation. In both morphs, about 90 % of open-pollinated flowers developed mature capsules and the average number of seeds per capsule was around sixty. Hand pollination experiments showed that reproductive success was high (92.86 and 100 % fruit set) following inter-morph crossings, but no fruit develops after same-morph pollination or selfing. We have ascertained that full distyly syndrome (distinct floral morphs, intra-morph incompatibility and morphs equally represented in the populations) occurs in P. palinuri. However, a further reduction of the severely fragmented range, any rapid change of the environmental conditions due to human impact on coastal areas or stochastic events of plant mortality may alter the proportion of the two morphs, affecting the fragile conservation status of the species.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Al Wadi H, Richards AJ (1992) Palynological variation in Primula L. Subgenus Sphondylia (Duby) Rupr., and the relationship of this group to Dionysia Fenzl. New Phytol 121:303–310
Aronne G, De Micco V, Barbi S (2010) Hypocotyl features of Primula palinuri Petagna (Primulaceae) an endemic and rare species of the Southern Tyrrhenian Coast. In: Giordani G, Rossi V, Viaroli P (eds) Ecologia Emergenza Pianificazione. Proceedings XVIII Congresso Nazionale della Società Italiana di Ecologia, SItE, pp 113–119
Barrett SCH (1990) The evolution and adaptive significance of heterostyly. Trends Ecol Evol 5:144–148
Barrett SCH (2002) The evolution of plant sexual diversity. Nat Rev Genet 3:274–284
Barrett SCH, Shore JS (1985) Dimorphic incompatibility in Turnera hermannioides Camb. (Turneraceae). Ann Mo Bot Gard 72:259–263
Barrett SCH, Shore JS (2008) New insights on heterostyly: comparative biology, ecology and genetics. In: Franklin-Tong VE (ed) Self-incompatibility in flowering plants—evolution, diversity and mechanisms. Springer, Berlin, pp 3–32
Brys R, Jacquemyn H, Endel P, Hermy M, De Blust G (2003) The relationship between reproductive success and demographic structure in remnant populations of Primula veris. Acta Oecologica 24:247–253
Brys R, Jacquemyn H, Endels P, Van Rossum F, Hermy M, Triest L, De Bruyn L, Blust GDE (2004) Reduced reproductive success in small populations of the self-incompatible Primula vulgaris. J Ecol 92:5–14
Bunce RGH (1968) An ecological study of Ysgolion Duon, a Mountain Cliff in Snowdonia. J Ecol 56:59–75
Cooper A (1997) Plant species coexistence in cliff habitats. J Biogeogr 24:483–494
Crawford RMM (1989) Studies in plant survival. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford
Crema S, Cristofolini G (2012) Filogenesi di Primula subsect. Euaricula: un esempio di origine ed evoluzione dell’endemismo alpino. Ann Mus Civ Rovereto 28:135–159
Crema S, Cristofolini G, Rossi M, Conte L (2009) High genetic diversity detected in the endemic Primula apennina Widmer (Primulaceae) using ISSR fingerprinting. Plant Syst Evol 280:29–36
Dafni A (1992) Pollination ecology: a practical approach. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Daget P (1977) Le bioclimat méditerranéen: caractères généraux, modes de caractérisation. Vegetation 34:1–20
Darwin C (1877) The different forms of flowers on plants of the same species. John Murray, London
Davidson JB, Wolf PG (2011) Natural history of Maguire Primrose, Primula cusickiana var. maguirei (Primulaceae). Western North Am Nat 71:327–337
Davis PH (1951) Cliff vegetation in the eastern Mediterranean. J Ecol 39:63–93
De Micco V, Aronne G (2012) Occurrence of morphological and anatomical adaptive traits in young and adult plants of the rare Mediterranean cliff species Primula palinuri Petagna. Sci World J 2012:1–10
de Vos JM, Keller B, Isham ST, Kelso S, Conti E (2012) Reproductive implications of herkogamy in homostylous primroses: variation during anthesis and reproductive assurance in alpine environments. Funct Ecol 26:854–865
Dulberger R (1992) Floral dimorphisms and their functional significance in the heterostylous syndrome. In: Barrett SCH (ed) Evolution and function of heterostyly. Springer, Berlin, pp 41–84
Endels P, Jacquemyn H, Brys R, Hermy M (2002) Changes in pin-thrum ratios in populations of the heterostyle Primula vulgaris Huds.: does imbalance affect population persistence? Flora 197:326–331
Ernst A (1955) Self-fertility in monomorphic primulas. Genetica 27:391–448
Ganders FR (1979) The biology of heterostyly. New Zealand. J Bot 17:607–635
Gangale C, Uzunov D, Cesca G (2011) Primula palinuri. In: IUCN 2013. IUCN Red list of threatened species. Version 2013.1. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 24 September 2013
Giovanetti M, Aronne G (2012) Insect visitors to the rare plant Primula palinuri Petagna (Primulaceae) in southern Italy: a framework for future research. J Apic Res 51:280–281
Jacquemyn H, Brys R, Hermy M (2001) Within and between plant variation in seed number, seed mass and germinability of Primula elatior: effect of population size. Plant Biol 3:561–568
Kálmán K, Medvegy A, Pénzes Z, Mihalik E (2007) Morph-specific variation of floral traits associated with reciprocal herkogamy in natural populations of Primula vulgaris and Primula veris. Plant Syst Evol 268:15–27
Kéry M, Matthies D, Schmid B (2003) Demographic stochasticity in population fragments of the declining distylous perennial Primula veris (Primulaceae). Basic Appl Ecol 4:197–206
Larson DW, Matthes U, Kelly PE (2000) Cliff ecology: pattern and process in cliff ecosystems. University Press, Cambridge
Lloyd DG, Webb CJ (1992) The selection of heterostyly. In: Barrett SCH (ed) Evolution and function of heterostyly. Monographs on theoretical and applied genetics. Springer, Berlin, pp 179–207
Lundqvist J (1968) Plant cover and environment of steep hillsides in Pite Lappmark. Acta Phytogeographica Suecica 53:1–153
Morisset P (1971) Endemism in the vascular plants of the Gulf of St. Lawrence region. Naturaliste Canadien 98:167–177
Morozowska M, Idzikowsca K (2004) Morphological differentiation of Primula veris L. pollen from natural and cultivated populations. Acta Societatis Botanicorum Poloniae 73:229–232
Nahal I (1981) The Mediterranean climate from a biological viewpoint. In: di Castri F, Goodall DW, Specht RL (eds) Mediterranean-type shrublands, ecosystems of the World 11. Elsevier Scientific Publishing Company, Amsterdam, pp 63–86
Naiki A (2012) Heterostyly and the possibility of its breakdown by polyploidization. Plant Species Biol 27:3–29
Nishihiro J, Washitani I (2011) Post-pollination process in a partially self-compatible distylous plant, Primula sieboldii (Primulaceae). Plant Species Biol 26:213–220
Pizzolongo P (1963) Note ecologiche e fitosociologiche su Primula palinuri Pet. Annali di Botanica 27:451–467
Polunin N (1939) Artic plants in the British Isles. J Bot 77:371–413
Ricciardi M (1973) Nuove stazioni di Primula palinuri Petagna lungo la costa tirrenica meridionale. Webbia 28:417–421
Richards AJ (2003) Primula, II edn. Timber Press, Portland
Sánchez JM, Ferrero V, Navarro L (2008) A new approach to the quantification of degree of reciprocity in distylous (sensu lato) plant populations. Ann Bot 102:463–472
Sánchez JM, Ferrero V, Navarro L (2013) Quantifying reciprocity in distylous and tristylous plant populations. Plant Biol 15:616–620
Shimono A, Washitani I (2007) Factors affecting variation in seed production in the heterostylous herb Primula modesta. Plant Species Biol 22:65–76
Stone JL, Thomson JD (1994) The evolution of distyly: pollen transfer in artificial flowers. Evolution 48:1595–1606
von Euler T, Ågren J, Ehrlén J (2012) Floral display and habitat quality affect cost of reproduction in Primula farinosa. Oikos 121:1400–1407
Washitani I, Ishihama F, Matsumura C, Nagai M, Nishihiro J, Ajima Nishihiro M (2005) Conservation ecology of Primula sieboldii: synthesis of information toward the prediction of the genetic/demographic fate of a population. Plant Species Biol 20:3–15
Wedderburn FM, Richards AJ (1990) Variation in within-morph incompatibility inhibition sites in heteromorphic Primula L. New Phytol 116:149–162
Weller SG (2009) The different forms of flowers—what have we learned since Darwin? Bot J Linn Soc 160:249–261
Willson MF (1983) Plant reproductive ecology. Wiley, New York
Wiser SK (1994) High-elevation cliffs and outcrops of the Southern Appalachians: vascular plants and biogeography. Castanea 59:85–116
Zhang LB, Kadereit JW (2004) Classification of Primula sect. Auricula (Primulaceae) based on two molecular data sets (ITS, AFLPs), morphology and geographical distribution. Bot J Linn Soc 146:1–26
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to the National Park of Cilento and Diano Valley for their financial support and to S. Barbi for collaboration during a very preliminary phase of this work.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Aronne, G., Buonanno, M. & De Micco, V. Assessment of distyly syndrome in Primula palinuri Petagn. a rare species living on maritime vertical cliffs. Plant Syst Evol 300, 917–924 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00606-013-0931-6
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00606-013-0931-6