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THE REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY OF A RELICT–ILLICIUM FLORIDANUM ELLIS
Author(s) -
Thien Leonard B.,
White David A.,
Yatsu Larry Y.
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
american journal of botany
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.218
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1537-2197
pISSN - 0002-9122
DOI - 10.1002/j.1537-2197.1983.tb12451.x
Subject(s) - biology , biological dispersal , botany , ecology , asexual reproduction , pollination , pollen , population , demography , sociology
The flowers of Illicium floridanum are pollinated by a wide variety of insects, particularly Diptera that emerge from the litter and stream in early spring. Coleoptera rarely visit the flowers. It is suggested that the mode of pollination is ancient and may also exist in species of primitive angiosperms in the South Pacific. Illicium floridanum is self‐incompatible and possesses features of a gametophytically controlled incompatibility system. As a result of asexual reproduction, a lack of long‐distance dispersal of pollen and self‐incompatibility, fruit production is very low. This pattern of reproduction is found in other species of primitive angiosperms; incompatibility mechanisms which undoubtedly aided the angiosperms to become dominant may now be one of the major factors responsible for their extinction.