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Pollination Ecology of Pedicularis punctata Decne. (Scrophulariaceae) in the Kashmir Himalaya
Author(s) -
Macior Lazarus Walter
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
plant species biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.419
H-Index - 36
eISSN - 1442-1984
pISSN - 0913-557X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1442-1984.1990.tb00181.x
Subject(s) - pollinator , biology , pollination , scrophulariaceae , pollen , ecology , botany
The pollination ecology of Pedicularis punctata was studied in the Pir Panjal Range of the Kashmir Himalaya in the summer of 1989. Its nectarless, rostrate, long‐tubed flower was found to be pollinated exclusively by Bombus foragers vibrating pollen while the stigma contacted pollen in the pollinator's cervical crevice. Workers of Bombus tunicatus and B. flavothoracicus comprised 95% of its pollinators. Pollen‐foraging fidelity of its pollinators was greatest where diversity of Bombus ‐pollinated plant species in three plant communities was least. Foragers on other plants carried virtually no Pedicularis pollen. P. punctata is a mid‐season blooming species similar in its pollination syndrome to comparable species in other geographic regions. The enigmatic function of its long, nectarless corolla tube, even more exaggerated in other Asiatic species, requires further investigation.