Chinese Bulletin of Botany ›› 2018, Vol. 53 ›› Issue (5): 634-642.DOI: 10.11983/CBB17084

• EXPERIMENTAL COMMUNICATIONS • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Prelimary Study of the Pollination Biology of Lychnis cognata and L. wilfordii

Bao Yu1,2, Qiao Yanan3, Yan Xingfu4, Wang Lingyan1,2, Qu Wenjing1,2, Tang Zhanhui1,2,*()   

  1. 1State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Wetland Ecology and Vegetation Restoration, Changchun 130117, China
    2School of Environment Northeast Normal University, Changchun 130117, China
    3No.2 Student Brigade, Logistics University of People’s Armed Police Force, Tianjin 300309, China
    4College of Biological Science and Engineering, BeiFang University of Nationalities, Yinchuan 750021, China
  • Received:2017-04-15 Accepted:2017-12-27 Online:2018-09-01 Published:2018-11-29
  • Contact: Tang Zhanhui
  • About author:

    † These authors contributed equally to this paper

Abstract: The aim of this study was to study the pollination biology of Lychnis cognata and L. wilfordii from the aspects floral syndrome, pollen occurrence regularity and pollinator flower-visiting behavior. The floral syndrome of L. cognata and L. wilfordii differed significantly, but the main pollinator of these two species was the same: Papilio bianor. The stamens of the two species shed their pollen in two batches, and the pollen viability of the two batches peaked at different times. The pollen viability of the first batch of the two species peaked on the first day after flowering but that of the second batch on the second day after flowering. The receptivity of the stigma of L. cognata reached the peak on the fifth day after flowering, 1 day later than that of L. wilfordii. Hence, the two species are dichogamous. The flowering period was earlier for L. cognata than L. wilfordii, but the flowering duration of two species was similar. The highest visiting frequency of pollinators to L. cognata was at 8:00 to 11:00 am and to L. wilfordii was at 11:00 to 12:00 am. The important factors influencing the visiting time of pollinators may be habitat environmental factors or time of anther dehiscence.

Key words: pollination biology, Lychnis cognata, L. wilfordii, floral syndrome