Premium
NECTAR AND THE POLLINATION OF BREAD FRUIT, ARTOCARPUS ALTILIS (MORACEAE)
Author(s) -
Brantjes N. B. M.
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
acta botanica neerlandica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.871
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1438-8677
pISSN - 0044-5983
DOI - 10.1111/j.1438-8677.1981.tb01264.x
Subject(s) - nectar , biology , inflorescence , moraceae , perianth , pollination , pollen , botany , stamen
SUMMARY In Cametá, PA, Brasil, Trigona ( Trigona ) fulviventris var. guianae Cock. bees collect pollen and presumably also nectar from staminate inflorescences of Artocarpus altilis (Park.) Fosberg (= A. communis = A. incisa ). In this tree the production of staminate inflorescences alternates with that of pistillate ones (second‐order dichogamy). Pistillate inflorescences do not produce any nectar. Microtechnical and anatomical studies confirmed the nectar production from morphologically unspecialized cells in the perianth bases. The nectar is secreted through stomata into the interfloral spaces. This primitive mode of secretion might be an indication of a novel development rather than a rudimentary character. Its adaptive value remains uncertain. The relevance of this nectar production is discussed in the light of conflicting views about the evolutionarily oldest mode of pollination in the Moraceae: anemophily or zoophily?