FLORAL ENANTIOMORPHY AND THE REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEM OFWACHENDORFIA PANICULATA(HAEMODORACEAE)

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Abstract
SUMMARY: Flowers of the South African genusWachendorfia(Haemodoraceae) are dimorphic. Some individuals in a population produce flowers in which the style and one stamen are deflected to the right and the other two stamens are deflected to the left; other individuals produce flowers with the reverse arrangement of style and stamens. Articifical pollinations ofW. paniculataindicate that it has a weakly developed self‐incompatibility system; intermorph crosses produced more seeds than self‐pollinations or intramorph pollinations. Features of the floral morphology ofW. paniculatasuggest that it is pollinated by a large‐bodied insect, possiblyXylocopa.The dimorphism in the position of anthers and stigmas probably increases the level of intermorph pollination. The low sugar concentration of the nectar, low pollen production per flower, and few flowers per plant also probably result in pollinators visiting more than one plant during their foraging activities, thus reinforcing the floral dimorphism and increasing the opportunities for intermorph pollination.

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