A Preliminary Study of the Pollination Ecology ofPedicularisin the Chinese Himalaya

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Abstract
The pollination ecology of fourteen species ofPedicularis(Scrophulariaceae) was studied in the subalpinealpine zone of the Sichuan Himalaya. Bumblebees (BombusLatr.) sternotribically pollinated rostrate, nectarless species with very long corolla tubes by scraping pollen. Pollinators on short‐tubed, nectarless, rostrate species scraped or vibrated pollen, and nectariferous species were pollinated nototribically by nectar foragers or sternotribically by pollen foragers. Stigmas contacted residual pollen in the midline of the insect body. No evidence of lepidopteran pollination was found in anyPedicularisspecies.Pedicularisfloral structure and function are considered to have coevolved with foraging selection by bumblebees, but pollination syndromes are not specific for a single bumblebee species nor areBombusforagers restricted to a single plant species. Analysis of corbicular pollen loads of foragers onPedicularisrevealed a moderate degree of flower constancy, especially among foragers on nectarless flowers, probably contributing to speciation in the genus. Up to ninePedicularisspecies flowered sympatrically and synchronously, and some species exhibited microhabitat selection. No putative hybrids were identified. Concepts of floral evoution inPedicularisare in need of revision in light of new evidence presented here.