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Pollination and flower diversity in scrophulariaceae

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Abstract

The flowers of the Scrophulariaceae show a great diversity in form, especially of the corolla. The most common pollinators are bees collecting nectar, pollen, or oil; other pollinators are moths and butterflies, hummingbirds, syrphid flies, and (in one case) ants. The occurrence of bell-shaped corollas in most tribes of the Scrophulariaceae and in related families indicates that this is the basic (ancestral) flower form. Derived from it are narrow tubular corollas, wide flaring ones, corollas closed to unsuitable visitors by a palate (an upcurving of the tube), corollas forming a keel around the style and anthers either on the upper or lower side of the flower, corollas inflated to form a balloon, and corollas with one or two spurs. Convergences due to selection by the same or similar pollinators limit the usefulness of most of these floral features in analyzing the systematic relationships of the tribes of the Scrophulariaceae. Nevertheless, their diversity of forms exemplifies the evolutionary potential of fused perianth parts.

Zusammenfassung

Die Blüten der Scrophulariaceen zeigen eine überraschende Formenvielfalt, besonders durch ihre Kronen. Die meistverbreiteten Bestäuber sind Bienen, die Nektar, Pollen, oder Öl sammeln; andere Bestäuber sind Motten und Schmetterlinge, Kolibris, Schwebfliegen, und (in einem Fall) Ameisen. Die Verbreitung der glockenähnlichen Kronenform in den meisten Sippen der Scrophulariaceen und in verwandten Familien läßt vermuten, daß diese die Urform der Krone darstellt. Abgeleitet von dieser Form sind enge, röhrenforminge Kronen, breit-trichterförmige Kronen, Kronen die durch eine Aufwärtskrümmung der unteren Röhre Nektardiebe ausschließen, Kronen mit Kielen um Griffel und Antheren (auf der oberen oder unteren Blütenseite), ballonförmig aufgeblasene Kronen, und Kronen mit einem oder zwei Spornen. Konvergenzen durch Selektion derselben oder ähnlicher Bestäuber begrenzt die Brauchbarkeit der meisten dieser Blütencharakteristiken für die Analyse der Verwandtschaftsbeziehungen zwischen Scrophulariaceen-Sippen, aber ihre Formenvielfalt illustriert das evolutionäre Potential von verwachsenen Kronen.

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  1. Christine M. Kampny

    Present address: Department of Botany, University of Florida, 220 Bartram Hall, 32611, Gainesville, FL, U.S.A.

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  1. Department of Botany, University of Toronto, 25 Willcocks St., M5S 3B2, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Christine M. Kampny

  2. Department of Botany, Royal Ontario Museum, 100 Queen's Park, M5S 2C6, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Christine M. Kampny

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Kampny, C.M. Pollination and flower diversity in scrophulariaceae. Bot. Rev 61, 350–366 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02912622

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