Pollination Ecology ofPedicularis punctataDecne. (Scrophulariaceae) in the Kashmir Himalaya

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The pollination ecology ofPedicularis punctatawas studied in the Pir Panjal Range of the Kashmir Himalaya in the summer of 1989. Its nectarless, rostrate, long‐tubed flower was found to be pollinated exclusively byBombusforagers vibrating pollen while the stigma contacted pollen in the pollinator's cervical crevice. Workers ofBombus tunicatusandB. flavothoracicuscomprised 95% of its pollinators. Pollen‐foraging fidelity of its pollinators was greatest where diversity ofBombus‐pollinated plant species in three plant communities was least. Foragers on other plants carried virtually noPedicularispollen.P. punctatais a mid‐season blooming species similar in its pollination syndrome to comparable species in other geographic regions. The enigmatic function of its long, nectarless corolla tube, even more exaggerated in other Asiatic species, requires further investigation.