Flower power: its association with bee power and floral functional morphology in papilionate legumes.

ABSTRACT:

Background and aims

A test was made of the hypothesis that papilionate legume flowers filter pollinators according to their ability to exert strength to open flowers to access rewards. In addition, interactions with pollen vectors were expected to explain the structural complexity of the architecture of these flowers since operative flower strength may be determined by a combination of morphological traits which form part of an intrafloral functional module.

Methods

Six papilionate species were studied: Collaea argentina, Desmodium uncinatum, Galactia latisiliqua, Lathyrus odoratus, Spartium junceum and Tipuana tipu. Measurements were made of the strength needed to open keels and the strength that pollinators were capable of exerting. Morphological traits of all petals were

SUBMITTER: Cordoba SA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3177674 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature