THE EXPLOSIVE RELEASE OF POLLEN IN FLOWERS OFHYPTIS(LAMIACEAE)

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Abstract
SUMMARY: The Brazilian speciesHyptis paulianaEpling probably has an ornithopilous flower, in which explosive pollen presentation is effected by the sudden release of the stamens from a petal lobe, called a carina. Two hinges are situated in the suspensor of this carina. Pressure in large epidermal cells of the suspensor, in combination with the stiffness of collenchymatic, deeper cell layers, produces the force for the explosion. Shortly before anthesis the filaments elongate so that the stamens enter deep into the carina. At anthesis two hinges in the suspensor plate unfold and the stamens keep the carina in this excitable position. A disturbance causes the anthers to slip from the carina, which then can flip back, while the anthers swing up and eject the pollen on to the flower visitor. In the receptive phase the stamens bend down and the style elongates. In the Lamiaceae, subfamily Ocimoideae, it seems likely that an explosive mechanism has evolved at least twice.

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