A Study on Pollination Biology of Paeonia suffruticosa subsp. spontanea (Paeoniaceae)

LUO Yi-Bo, PEI Yan-Long, PAN Kai-Yu, HONG De-Yuan

Received:1900-01-01 Revised:1900-01-01 Online:1998-03-10 Published:1998-03-10
Contact: LUO Yi-Bo

Abstract:

Field observation on pollination in three populations of Paeonia suffruticosa sub-

sp. spontanea in southern Shanxi Province showed that five species of bees in two families

and four species of beetles were engaged in pollination. Examination on bodies of these in-

sects under SEM, and seed set produced by controlled insect-pollination indicated that the

bees, especially the species in the genus Andrena were main pollinators and the beetles ex-

cept those of small size were only fluctuating vectors. Flowers of this taxon are scented and

nonectariferous. Flowers attracted bees and beetles mainly by pollen. A study on seed-set in

the three populations revealed considerable variation within and among populations. The

plants were no apomict and autogamy, but geitonogamy sometimes could produce mature

seeds (x＝ 2.86 seeds per carpel). In the population with less flowers (less than 40 flowers),

natural seed-set (x＝3.88) was close to the seed-set produced by hand cross-pollination (x =

3.21), but in the population with more flowers(near 100 flowers) natural seed-set (x＝

2.48) was lower than that by hand cross-pollination (x = 3.21). The seed-set was low for

both natural and artificial cross-pollination with only about one forth of ovules developing into

seeds.

Key words: Paeoniaceae, Paeonia suffruticosa subsp．Spontanea, Flowering, PollinationBiology, Breeding system, Bees, Beetles

LUO Yi-Bo, PEI Yan-Long, PAN Kai-Yu, HONG De-Yuan. A Study on Pollination Biology of Paeonia suffruticosa subsp. spontanea (Paeoniaceae)[J]. .

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